A New Goblin King: Return to the Labyrinth
by RenaetheFrogPrincess21
Summary: Sarah defeated the Goblin King, and as a prize she recieved...the Goblin King's medallion? Six years pass, Sarah's grownup, but something's wrong in the Underground. A recurring dream, a wish, and a bet bring her back there. Can she save the Goblin King?
1. Prologue

**To the Reader:** Okay, so in all the excitement of finally starting this story up, I forgot to add my little special author's note, so I'm adding it now. : p So here it is. HELLO!! I'm Renae, the Frog Princess, and this is my first fanfic period, so comments and stuff along the way will be much appreciated. I've been obsessed with the movie Labyrinth for years and recently had a few awesome ideas for continuation stories (since no one wants to get up off their butts and make a second movie for us Labyrinth lovers) which I HAD to come and post up here. I'm jabbering now lol. So I hope you all like this story, comments (no hateful or curse filled ones please) are appreciated, I DO NOT OWN the lovely movie Labyrinth or its characters (because if I did, there would be a second movie out by now), and….yea that's enough from me, ENJOY!

**Prologue**

_Her feet landing on the brown stone of the broken Escher room, Sarah looked around, seeing no sign of the blonde child she had jumped to save. Hearing a sound, she turned her head to the right, towards a doorway still attached to the floor, and met the mismatched eyes of the Goblin King himself. He dressed in a flowing white robe that turned cream in the middle and brown toward the bottom, reminding her of the owl feathers he had in his owl form. His poet's shirt was gray, open at the chest to reveal his crescent moon shaped medallion with the infinity symbol on it. His boots and leggings were gray to match his shirt, and tight as always. The gold pointed markings over his eyes defined by a purple outlining were meant to accentuate his mismatched eyes, but soft gray bags below them showed a new tiredness he had not had before. Sarah ignored his menacing and overbearing presence, as well as the manly features she was too young to truly fathom, focusing only on her task of saving Toby._

"_Give me the child." Sarah commanded, glaring defiantly at Toby's kidnapper._

_"Sarah, beware. I have been generous, up until now, but I can be cruel." His eyes, the left one brown and the right one blue, glinted dangerously as he circled young Sarah._

_"Generous?" Sarah questioned incredulously. "What have you done that's generous?"_

_"EVERYTHING!" he snapped, continuing his angry circle round the girl. "Everything that you wanted, I have done. You asked that the child be taken, I took him. You cowered before me, I was frightening. I have reordered time. I have turned the world upside-down, and I have done it all for you! And I'm exhausted from living up to your expectations of me. Isn't that generous?" he asked softly. His face was so near that Sarah couldn't help but see the bags under his eyes caused by his exhaustion. But she ignored it, focused solely on her duty, and continued on._

_"Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle, beyond the Goblin City." She spoke softly, reciting her lines with conviction, but still only reciting. She advanced towards the Goblin King, causing him to back up away from the spell she was casting. "My will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom is as gr…"_

_"Stop! Wait. Look Sarah, look what I'm offering you. Your dreams." He pleaded, forming another familiar crystal bubble in his right hand._

_"….And my kingdom is great." Sarah continued on, unphased. _

_"I ask for so little. Just let me rule you. And you can have everything that you want."_

_Sarah paused in her steps, looking as if she were thinking about his offer, but she was only trying to remember her lines. "…My kingdom is great…damn, I can never remember that line."_

_"Just fear me. Love me, do as I say, and I will be your slave." The great King of the Goblins was near to begging now. Something in his voice had changed, something Sarah had not been old enough to catch, or old enough to accept._

_"My kingdom is great, my kingdom is great….." Sarah looked up at him and Jareth waited with anxiety written on his face. But his hopes fell as she completed her spell with the final lines. "You have no power over me." Her voice, speaking the "magic words", echoed around the room. The clock in the broken Escher room gonged at the thirteenth hour. The spell of defiance was cast, and Sarah had won. The Goblin King's face was somber, silently voicing his pain at her youthful blindness as he threw the crystal up in the air in defeat. Sarah caught it on her fingertips and watched it pop. But instead of seeing the Goblin King turn back into his owl form, she watched, screaming, as darkness swallowed him up from behind, and a deeply cruel voice laughed mockingly at her screams._

Sarah woke up from her recurring nightmare in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. It was beginning to take its toll on her sleeping routine, showing in her work. Sarah Williams was now 21 years old, fresh out of college and living on her own. Her hair was still brown, cut to her shoulders now for easier maintenance, and her clothing tastes had changed, but only a little. As for her dreams and her imagination, they had grown with her age but still held their youthful qualities. It had been six years since she had made the mistake of wishing Toby away, six years since her experience in the Underground, six years since she had beaten the Goblin King at his own game, and six years since she had seen any of the characters she had met on her way through the Labyrinth.

Sarah had graduated high school with flying colors, and went on to college. She had majored in drama, originally intending to be an actress, but found in her first year studies that the acting world was too harsh for her, so she switched her major to English, with a minor in drama and play writing. She had won contests with her stories from the Labyrinth; ones that were true accounts of her own journey, and ones she made up using her friends Hoggle, Ludo, Sir Didymus, and Ambrosyius as characters. Before she knew it, after college graduation she had been pulled into a famous publishing company as their editor and published a set of children's books called "Labyrinth Tales" and "Friends in the Underground" that sold enough for her to move to a nice homey cottage in a quiet suburban neighborhood not too far from her family. After her return from the Underground, Sarah had grown remarkably for the better. She no longer took things for granted (if she could help it), she no longer complained about watching her baby brother (growing closer to him than ever before), she was always careful what she wished for, and she no longer fought with her step mother. And though she now lived on her own, she was not far and she often visited her little brother Toby, now six years old, and her father and stepmother whenever she could. Toby remembered nothing of his time in the Underground, or his time spent with the Goblin King, though he often felt déjà vu whenever he read Sarah's children stories about the Underground. And the only things Sarah had left of that time in her life was the little red play book, sitting in the drawer of her vanity, and Jareth's Infinity medallion.

Sarah had tried to convince herself that her Underground adventures were a dream the morning after the party, but a few days later the Goblin King had appeared in her room while she slept and left her his medallion; the symbol of his power. She had kept it through all those years and wore it to bed, often feeling protected by it at night. She touched it gently now as it sat on low on her chest, beneath the cotton fabric of her sweaty nightgown. Sarah had tried to contact her Underground friends again after receiving Jareth's present, but for some reason had been unsuccessful. She could never figure out why they never came back to see her, but soon got too busy with her life to care anymore. But the medallion round her neck always served as her reminder of the journey that made her grow into the wise and intelligent young woman she was now.

Sitting up from bed, Sarah ran a hand through her hair and grasped the gold medallion with the other. Her dream of her last showdown with the Goblin King had been recurring for over three months now, ever since she had turned 21, and she still couldn't make heads or tails of it. Did it mean that the Goblin King was in trouble? Did it mean she had somehow dealt him a fatal blow when she had recited her lines to save her brother Toby, instead of accepting his offer? Once she had grown old enough, Sarah had recognized the true implications of the Goblin King's words that night, but also recognized that she had still made the right decision in refusing, because she had been far too young to accept his advances at the time, and she had had her brother Toby to worry about. No matter how many ways she flipped the memory in her head, she still came to the same conclusion. So why did this dream keep recurring, her dream in which the great King of the Goblins seems to fall at her defeat, literally? Had she done something more harmful than she realized? 'But that couldn't be the case either,' she told herself, 'because the Goblin King brought me his medallion maybe two or three days after the celebration we had in my room.' But still, Sarah could not deny that something wasn't right.

In truth, something had been wrong since the day Sarah discovered she could no longer summon her friends through the mirror. She had no way of knowing though because there was no one left to tell her what was going on except the Goblin King himself, and she had never had the courage to summon him, especially after she got old enough to realize the meaning behind his original words. Little did the young woman know, as she lay back down to sleep, squeezing the medallion in her hand, that her questions would be answered by nightfall the next day.


	2. Chapter 1

**Authors Note****: **Here's Chapter 1. Once again, I don't own Labyrinth (explained that in the Prologue). Hope you like! Leave comments!

**Chapter 1**

Noon Friday, next day; Sarah's house~

_brring brring_

"….."

_Brring Brring_

"…mm, five more minutes Dad…" Sarah mumbled sleepily into her pillow.

_BRRING BRRING_ said the phone. Whoever was on the other line had other plans.

Sarah grudgingly dragged herself out from under the blue and silver comforters of her Queen-sized bed, walking across the green carpeted floor to the cordless phone on her vanity. Picking it up as it rang with one more angry ring, she pressed the TALK button and put it up to her ear to hear an equally angry caller on the other side.

"Sarah, where the hell are you?" Marie, Sarah's co-editor and friend at the House of Books Publishing Company asked in a huff. Sarah recognized the voice, recognized the pissed off tone in the voice, but was still too foggy sleep-wise to understand why the voice was pissed.

"I'm in bed, why?" she murmured groggily into the receiver.

"Sarah dear…" Marie said with mock sweetness, carefully controlling her anger. "Do you know what today is?"

"…Friday?"

"Gooodd. And do you know what's supposed to happen today, dear?" Marie asked patronizingly.

"…umm, the meeting about my next set of children's stories?" Sarah yawned out.

"Very good. And what time was that supposed to be at?" Marie continued in her patronizing tone. Normally, Sarah would have rebelled at this kind of treatment, but she was still too sleepy to care. The meeting was the last thing on her mind after another night of interruptive nightmares. All she really wanted to do was sleep.

"11:30?"

"BRILLIANT! Now, look at your clock, genius one. YOU'RE LATE!" Marie shouted.

Sarah rubbed the sleep from her eyes and squinted at the red numbers on the clock beside her bed that read 12:00. "OH MY GOD I CAN'T BELIEVE IT, IT'S TWELVE O'CLOCK!" Sarah screamed into the phone, throwing it down on the bed to run to the closet and pull out whatever she could find to wear. Skidding out with a hunter green pants suit, white poet's shirt, and matching hunter green pumps, Sarah plopped the pile of clothes down onto the bed to undress. Halfway into her clothes, she heard the muffled sound of Marie's voice still on the phone and hurriedly pulled it out from underneath her suit jacket. "Oh Marie, I'm sorry! I ran to my closet to get dressed, what were you saying?"

Marie huffed and grunted angrily into the phone. Sarah knew she hated repeating herself but made a mental note to make all of this up to her later on. "I SAIIDD that I got them to postpone it for you, saying that you woke up with a temporary stomach virus this morning, though in reality you JUST woke up when I called! So I suggest you make yourself look paler than usual with a few sniffles and get your creatively late butt down here now Sarah!"

"On the way RIGHT now, thank you thank you THANK YOU for covering for me Marie, I promise this is the last time!"

"Yeah yeah, just get over here." Marie replied briskly, clicking the phone off without a goodbye. But Sarah couldn't blame her old college roommate for being angry. This was the fifth time that month that she had had to cover for Sarah coming into work late. There's only so much track covering one friend can do. Sarah raced into the bathroom in her bare feet, grabbing her hairbrush from her vanity on the way. As she fought with the brush and a hair tie against her bed head, a glint in the mirror made her look up. Jareth's medallion was still around her neck, bouncing against the ruffles of her white poet's shirt. She couldn't help but smile at the fact that the necklace fit well with her shirt choice for the day. Her mind flashed back to the variety of poet's shirts the Goblin King had suitably donned during her search for Toby in the Underground, how the medallion had always fallen into the crevice of his open shirt and glinted against his toned chest…

"Whoa there, Sarah, let's not go down that path again, shall we?" she told her mirror image, shaking herself from her thoughts. "Yes he was hot, but that's no reason to fantasize about the man. Besides, not only did you practically throw his "proposal" back in his face by saying those stupid lines," she conversed animatedly with her glassy twin, even making air quotes with her fingers when she said proposal, "but who's to say he even meant what he said? Who's to say the great King of the Goblins actually wanted you? Come on, Sarah, why would he want you of all people?" she asked her reflection angrily.

_But what no one knew was that the King of the Goblins had fallen in love with the girl…_ a memory echoed in her head. The Goblin King's face after Sarah had finished her lines and refused him flashed behind her eyes.

"I really need to stop talking to myself…" Sarah sighed to her reflection, finishing her hair and grabbing her toothbrush wordlessly from the bathroom cabinet. Dressing and finishing her preparations for the meeting, Sarah walked gracefully toward her front door in her green two-inch pumps, a leather satchel full of papers and drawings hanging from her shoulder. Looking down to reach for the doorknob, she realized that she still had the medallion on. 'Should I take it off?' she thought to herself. Glancing at the wall clock beside her door, Sarah decided she had no time to debate leaving the trinket and ran out the door with it on. A figure, lurking unseen in a dark corner of the living room, clenched his fist menacingly as he watched Sarah leave with the medallion, while another figure watched Sarah through a delicate looking glass ball and grinned with pointed teeth.

_**Alright guys, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I know it was short but I can only right so much at this hour of the night before my eyes start to yell at me. Have at it with comments, constructive criticism makes the world go round. See you for the next chapter!**_


	3. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** Chapter 2 up! Sorry if you got impatient, New Year's Week has been crazy. Trying to write as much as I can now before school starts and I have to go back to being a busybody (bleh). Thank you by the by to everyone who commented on my last chapter, it made me happy to know people have been reading it. New and interesting things will be happening in this one! Hope you like it!

**Chapter 2**

1:30 pm same day; Meeting office at House of Books Publishing Company (HBPC)~

"…And that is my latest idea for the next set of children's stories in the Labyrinth series." Sarah concluded her presentation.

A dozen suited men and women, sitting around a blue oval table in the large glassed in meeting room, stood to clap their approval of Sarah's presentation, bringing a smile to her face. Even Marie, who had been angry with Sarah barely twenty minutes before, had to stand and clap for her closest friend. Though she had been late, her presentation had been well done and well put. The only one who didn't clap or stand was a gorgeous brunette woman with ruddy blue eyes, sitting at the head of the table, and wearing an insanely magenta colored skirted suit that was never meant to be made in magenta. She was Sarah's latest boss, since a recent use of her rather unscrupulous methods had landed her a promotion to co-head of the Children's Book Department.

"Any questions?" Sarah asked, straightening up some of the pictures of Hoggle and Sir Didymus from her presentation while the others retook their seats. The first to raise her smooth, acrylic nailed hand was of course, her new boss. "Yes, Mindy?" Sarah said, fighting off a frustrated sigh of 'oh no, here we go again'.

"Ms. Rollins, please." she emphasized her professional name, making it clear that she thought Sarah unworthy to even utter her first name. "I was just wondering dear if you really think that…Higgle character…"

"Hoggle." Sarah corrected.

"Whatever." Mindy replied, twisting her hair between her fingers with a scowl. "If _Hoggle_ is a character the kids still enjoy. I mean, what little kid wants to read about an old, leathery looking bald man who sprays Fairies and collects jewelry?"

Sarah had known Mindy would be at this meeting, known that she hated Sarah, and that she would make every attempt to act her superior, and tear down her well-dreamed ideas. But the knowledge made it no easier to bite down her anger at the clueless woman's disrespect of her dearest friend. A flash from the overhead lights caught Sarah's eye but she ignored it and defended her friend.

"As I said in the presentation, _Mindy_, Hoggle is actually second highest on the poll of favorite characters recently taken by the company. Ludo was the highest. It seems children like their appearances and relate to them the most out of all of the characters. I apologize if he doesn't appeal to your sense of...style, but you're too _old_ for fairytales anyway, aren't you Mindy?" Sarah quipped. Marie couldn't help but giggle, along with a few others. Mindy flushed with anger at the implication and was about to say something when the other co-head, Alex, interrupted, giving Mindy a look of warning that shut her up.

"Alright, thank you Sarah, Mindy. Sarah, I do have a question as well. You stated that in this series you wanted to introduce a character you had mentioned in passing a little more fully; Jareth the Goblin King, correct?" Alex asked, looking at his notes.

"Yes, he will play a bigger role in this series."

"Now can I ask you why you want to include him more in this series? A grown man, wearing tight pants, who steals children away? Is that really appropriate for children?"

"Well, to begin with, he doesn't steal the children away, Alex. He's not some kidnapper in the guise of a magical king. He takes them when they are wished away by family members, and gives the family members a chance to save the child by finding their way through the Labyrinth. In truth, he's really a protector of the children, which is why I want to include him more; abused or badly treated children who get wished away by their parents get wished to the Goblin King, and he takes care of them while he lets the one who wished them away go through the Labyrinth to save them. Some don't mean to wish their children away, and when the King knows this, he gives the children back, whether they make it or not. Some do mean it, and don't want to take their children back, so the King keeps the children with him, erases all memory of them Aboveground, and gives them a better life Underground. He is a generous King, but he can be cruel, when he needs to be. Just as parents can be kind and generous, but cruel when their children have done something wrong that they need to be punished for. In the case of the Goblin King, he punishes parents who have wronged their children, by leaving them Aboveground childless, never remembering but never feeling full or complete again. That message of someone who would protect badly treated children is just the message kids need to see. As for the pants, they are a little tight, so we can rework them to a looser style, to keep it appropriate for the kids." Sarah explained. A thought at the Goblin King wearing slacks instead of his infamous Jareth pants made her laugh inside. Her argument for the Goblin King was convincing to Alex and he accepted it with a smile. Mindy, on the other hand, wasn't in the accepting mood.

"I have an issue with that as well, Sarah." she interrupted, cocking a waxed eyebrow.

'Of course you do, Mindy, you have an issue with EVERYTHING involved with me.' Sarah bit back her thoughts. A deep but unnoticed tingle began down at Sarah's chest.

"First of all, where you got the name Jareth from, I will never know. It's just too...strange. As are all the other names you've picked for your characters but we still have time to change this ones name. You should make it something like Derek or Goliath, or something more "kingly". But...on second thought, maybe you should take him out all together. I don't think he promotes the message you think he does, dear. A man with rock star hair and make-up taking little kids who've been wished away? He sounds more like a pedophile than anything. You're losing your writer's touch, Sarah." Mindy grinned maliciously. Alex couldn't even reprimand her; he was too shocked that she would dare to insult Sarah's writing like that to her face. All eyes were on Sarah now, and Sarah's were locked on Mindy's in the coldest glare anyone had ever seen. As her anger soared, a loud vibration could be heard throughout the room, and Jareth's medallion was warming against Sarah's chest. Sarah's head looked down towards the floor, and a hollow laugh came from her lips.

"Only a dirty mind could come to that conclusion Mindy, and everyone knows you have the dirtiest mind of all in this company." Sarah stated with such a calm persona that everyone's mouth dropped open, even Mindy's. Her voice had a tinny sound to it, and a faint English accent that hadn't been there before.

"Wh…What did you just say to me, bitch?" Mindy said over dramatically.

"Beware, Mindy. I have been kind, up until now, but I can be cruel." Sarah warned, sounding eerily familiar.

"Keep it up, I'd love to have you fired and out on your ass, bitch." Mindy retorted.

Sarah walked quickly to Mindy's side, turning her chair and looking down on her as she spoke. "The only female dog in here is you, Mindy Rollins. You go around flouncing in your Pepto-Bismol pink outfits, sliding up your skirt for the first man who will give you a pay raise or someone else's promotion, degrading yourself and thinking you are better than every other woman in this company. Well I'm here to tell YOU, whore queen, that you are lower than I. You are a slut, and you are a hypocrite, and you do not deserve to be in this department, selling books to children while you do inappropriate things to get here. I know my work, and I do not need a whore like YOU coming in here and insulting it when you have no idea what the bloody hell you are talking about. So do us all a favor Mindy; go upstairs, lay down on the Vice President's desk again and spread your legs, and get yourself promoted to director of the Erotica position, why don't you. Your 'talents' will be better suited there." Through all of this, Sarah saw the lights flicker continuously, heard her ears buzz, felt her chest warm significantly where the medallion touched it, but didn't hear or speak any of the words that slipped from her lips. Once her speech was done, the buzzing in her ears ceased and she stood up staring bewildered at the equally bewildered woman she had just unknowingly told off.

No one had stopped Sarah when she went towards Mindy because everyone knew about the rivalry between the two and knew the fight had been long in the making. But no one expected to hear timid, mousy Sarah, who was slow to anger and barely ever cursed, let alone blantantly insulted someone in an English accent, to curse out her own boss. Marie took the initiative to save her friend and stood up to clap for Sarah's uncharacteristic outburst, and the rest of the team soon followed, even Alex. Sarah blushed, the lights returning to normal and the medallion on her chest cooling as her temper ebbed with the flow of praise. Nodding but still unsure of what had just happened, she made her way back to the presentation board, to pack her stuff back into her satchel and leave. But Mindy wasn't done yet. Through the applause, she stood and screamed at Sarah.

"You're through, do you hear me? Sarah Williams, you are through! You think you've won something here? You think you can talk to me that way and get away with it? Your wrong! I'm your boss now, I will get you fired and kicked out of this place Sarah, and there's not a damn thing you can do about it!"

"SILENCE!" Sarah commanded, mechanically raising her hand to Mindy from across the room. The medallion burned against Sarah's skin. The lights blew out and Mindy's chair flew backward against the wall. Half a cup of iced coffee, that had been sitting in front of Mindy the whole meeting, flew into her lap. Mindy screamed with embarrassment and ran out of the room, everyone watching after the sad, ruined Barbie doll. When they turned back, Sarah's things had been packed back into her satchel and Sarah had snuck out of the side door.

Sarah ran down the stairs of the publishing building, car keys to her 2004 Ford Escort in hand. She was going down from the 5th floor, but she didn't care. She had flung her boss and her boss's coffee against a wall, without knowing she was doing so. Something was terribly wrong, and right then all she wanted to do was get away from there.

_Sarah…_

Sarah stopped on the third floor landing, unnerved by a light whisper of her name, and a shadow she kept catching in the corner of her eye that seemed to disappear whenever she turned to it. She had seen enough horror movies to know that running down the rest of the stairs was her best bet, and so she did. Safely in the parking garage, watched by a friendly officer in a booth, she made her way to her car, only to find a worried and perplexed looking Marie sitting on the trunk.

"How do you do that, Marie? I even had a head start this time." Sarah joked lightly, trying to avoid what she knew Marie would address. To no avail.

"Sarah Williams, do not try and change the subject."

"I haven't yet, a subject hasn't been introduced."

"Then let me introduce one. What the hell just happened back there?"

"Back where?" Sarah avoided the question, trying to open the door to her car.

"Sarah!" Marie snapped, grabbing the keys from her.

Sarah sighed. "I don't know, okay? I have no idea as to what just happened back there. I don't even know what I said to her, what I did, it was...like I wasn't in control of myself or something."

"So, what, are you trying to tell me you blacked out and started cursing Mindy out randomly? With a slight English accent, I might add. And then you somehow managed to get her chair to fly backwards, along with her coffee? As entertaining as it was dear, you are CRAZY for pulling a stunt like that! You could've lost your job!"

"I KNOW THAT MARIE, BUT IT WASN'T A STUNT!" she snapped back. "I don't KNOW what I did, it just happened, okay? I didn't plan any of that, I have no explanations for myself right now, let alone you. Something's wrong, something weird's been up lately. Which is why I think I should leave work for awhile."

"What are you talking about Sarah?" Marie asked. But Sarah remained silent. "Look, if you're worried that Mindy's going to report you and get you fired, don't be. I'll slap her straight upside her head and threaten her life before I let that bitch do that to you." Marie was a Latino woman from Bronx, New York, and her city heritage often came out in her language when she was angry or protective.

"No, Marie, that's not it. You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me, Sarah." Marie insisted.

Sarah looked straight into her friend's hazel eyes, pulled Jareth's heavy medallion from her shirt and said "I think the Goblin King has something to do with what just happened up there. I think his medallion reacted to me when I got angry at Mindy and caused everything."

Marie stared incredulously. "You know what? Fine, don't tell me. But if you're going to lie to me, make up a better lie than that Sarah."

"I'm not lying to you Marie." Sarah sighed dejectedly, leaning against her car. "I told you you wouldn't believe me."

"Sarah, do you honestly believe yourself? And if you do, you've been writing those books too long and you need to get some professional help, sweetheart."

"Marie…"

"Sarah." Marie interrupted, giving Sarah her keys back and squeezing her shoulder comfortingly. "You are my best friend, and I trust you more than anyone I know. Now, I don't know what happened back there, and I don't know what's been going on with you lately, especially with that weird dream you told me you've been having. But you sound crazy to me right now, sweetie. You have to get back to reality before you lose your job, and yourself. I know this reality isn't exactly the best, but it's all we've got. There is no other. Please Sarah. Stop living in a fantasy." And with that, Marie walked away, back towards the elevator shaft beside the stairwell.

Sarah opened the door with her key and slid dejectedly into her car. 'Maybe I am dreaming. Maybe I'm just living in a fantasy world of my own creation.' She thought to herself. She stared at the heavy golden medallion round her neck and the silver infinity symbol engraved in it and found herself thinking longingly of the Goblin King. "Where are you, Goblin King? Why did you give this to me?" she whispered to the medallion, as if it would speak back. But it remained cool to her touch, mocking her confusion. "There I go, talking to myself again. Flinging people against walls without touching them and...talking... to myself. Maybe I do need professional help " she sighed out, as she pulled out of her parking space and headed toward the street.

**Why indeed. **said a dark voice, hiding within the shadow of a pillar in the parking garage.

_I fear that you will know the answers to all soon enough, precious girl._ An unheard accented voice spoke from an unseen place, watching the only person to ever solve the Labyrinth drive toward an unseen enemy, hidden in shadow.

**I may add another chapter sooner, but I felt here was a good place to stop this one. I hope you like it, and remember, constructive criticism makes the world go round. Comment! See you next chapter!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Author's Note**: Okay, I want to thank everyone who's read my story so far, as well as everyone who's commented on my work, you've been really helpful to me. And a special thanks to Kyuubi no Kitsune9 for pointing out the problems with my last Chapter. I redid it with your suggestions in mind and hopefully made it better and more understandable. Anyway, I'll be posting two chapters at once this time, so I hope you enjoy!

**Chapter 3**

2 pm same day; The middle of Highway 14

"As if my day wasn't already going wrong, now I'm stuck in traffic? It's not fair!" she shouted angrily at the car, echoing familiar words she used often as a teenager.

Her exit was only a few feet ahead, but it was rush hour and several others were also attempting to get off at her exit. As she waited for the traffic to continue moving at its crawling pace, "Magic Dance" sang loudly from deep within her satchel bag. Sitting it in her lap to dig through its contents, she finally found her phone in a bottom corner; the caller was her stepmother, Karen.

"Hello? Hey Karen…no, I just got out of work…stuck in traffic just outside of the exit…sure, I'll stop by on the way...no, it's no problem…I'm sure…okay…bye."

3:13 pm same day; The Williams' Home

Sarah parked the car into the driveway of her family home. She could hear Arthur, the sheep dog they had gotten after Merlin died, barking from within the house. She could also hear her little brother, Toby, excitedly announcing Sarah's arrival.

"Same old Toby." She giggled to herself as she walked up the pathway. Karen met her at the door.

"Oh Sarah, thank you so much for popping over on such short notice, honey." Karen smiled, hugging her stepdaughter warmly. Sarah hugged her back; she hadn't realized but she had missed her stepmother's warm hugs. "How are you doing, dear? Not working yourself ragged with another book, I hope."

"No, actually, I took some time off starting today." Sarah replied, pulling away.

"Well I'm glad to hear it. Maybe you can come over for dinner sometime this week then?"

"Definitely." Sarah grinned.

"Wonderful." Her stepmother smiled back. Glancing at her watch, she hurried on. "Oh dear. Alright sweetie, I will be back as soon as I can, I need to run to the DMV and renew my license before they close, you know how they are. One day late and you're in for it, but they're only ever open during the week when everyone's working. I'd bring Toby with me but he gets so antsy and cranky when he has to wait in line with me, and your father's working late tonight and the babysitter is sick with the flu so…"

"Karen." Sarah interrupted. "It's fine, it is. I don't mind, really. Take your time; we'll be here when you get back."

Sighing, Karen gave Sarah another hug before heading to the car. "You are my life saver, did you know that? I won't be gone long, I promise." She kissed her lightly on the cheek. Sarah stood outside and waited until Karen had driven away, waving to the silver Toyota Sedan. Karen had become a second mother to Sarah after her return from the Underground, when she had finally stopped picking fights and found common ground with her kindly stepmother. Getting her brother back and gaining the newfound relationship with Karen was worth the trip to the Underground in Sarah's eyes.

"Sarah! Sarah!" an excited little voice called from the doorway of the Williams' house. Sarah turned to see a small, bouncing blond and blue-eyed boy with a Cheshire cat grin on his face.

"Toby!" Sarah squealed in a high pitched voice, scooping the little boy into her arms and closing the front door with her foot. "How are you big guy, huh?" she asked, swinging him around the living room.

The little boy giggled infectiously until Sarah brought him in for a landing on the couch. "I'm fine. I missed you though Sarah!" he replied, wrapping his short arms around Sarah's middle.

Sarah bear hugged him back. "Aww, I missed you too big guy. How's Arthur doing?"

"He's fine too. He's in the garage cause Mommy gave him a bath today and he shook his head and got her all wet!" Toby giggled.

"Ha ha, wow, sounds like Mommy had a busy day today. How was your day Tobes? How was Kindergarten?"

"I had fun today! Our teacher, Ms. Lorin, has Fun Fridays, where we get to finger paint and eat ice cream for lunch and watch puppet shows and we don't have homework! And I finger painted today and my friend Bobby put his hand on my painting, so I put my hand on his and we made smiley faces under our handprints and we got to toe paint today too because the teacher had special floor paper and we made something she called a 'mural' I think and Bobby lost his space cause a big kid in our class took his so I shared mine with him and we all got to wash our feet in big buckets! A few kids kicked water onto the floor, but I kept all my water in the bucket, Sarah! And then at lunch…"

Sarah listened intently as her little brother jabbered on about his day, smiling as she thought back to the days when she had selfishly hated the boy and his stepmother for busting into her life after her real mother's departure from it for Hollywood. Now, she cherished being a big sister, and wanted nothing more than to protect the little bundle of joy she had so simply wished away to the Goblins six years before. 'How could I have ever hated you, big guy?' Sarah thought lovingly.

Sarah snapped back from her reveries at the sound of Toby's voice. "What Toby?"

"You're not listening Sarah!" Toby pouted at her, putting his little hands on his hips like Karen did when she was annoyed about something.

She laughed. "Oh I'm sorry Toby, I was just daydreaming again about when you were little. You were so cute!" she quipped, pinching his cheeks lightly before he jumped away giggling.

"Hey, no cheek pinching, Sarah! So do you wanna see it?"

"See what?"

"My finger painting! The teacher dried them for us and let us take them home, you wanna see?"

"Sure! Let's have a look at that Van Gogh art!"

"…Van who?" Toby asked, cocking his head to the side in confusion.

Sarah laughed. "Nothing Tobes, just take me to see your picture."

"Yay!" Toby jumped up and down excitedly, grabbing Sarah's hand in his and pulling her up the stairs toward her old room. "I put it in your room cause I wanted it to be for you if you liked it!" he said, climbing on a small stepping stool just inside the doorway to turn on the light. Karen had gotten one for him so he could turn lights on and off in the house without having to call anyone to help him.

As the lights flashed on, Sarah looked nostalgically at the little room she had spent most of her time in during her teenage years, before the Labyrinth. She had taken the vanity with her to her new apartment, but the bed from her childhood still remained, as did the shelves for her books and stuffed animals, and the trunk full of all the things she had put away after returning from the Underground. Lancelot was no longer in the trunk or on the shelf, residing in Toby's room as his best bedtime friend ever since that night. Sarah took a moment to open the trunk and look through the old things. A Sir Didymus doll sat at the ready in one corner of the trunk, beside his trusty stuffed steed, Ambrosyius. Her Ludo stuffed animal was sitting quietly in another corner, smiling up at her, and a fuzzy headed Hoggle doll sat at the front with warm blue eyes, as though waiting for her to call again. Even her music box, with the Cinderella figurine in it still sat in the trunk, bringing back long ago memories of a ball room…The only thing Sarah couldn't find inside was the Jareth figurine.

"Hey Toby, where's the Goblin King figurine I used to have? Did you take it out of my trunk again?"

Toby hung his head low, shuffling his feet and pulling at his pants nervously. "I…I didn't mean to Sarah, but I needed a King to fight Lancelot when I was playing one day and I like the Goblin King figurine so I was playing and I played to hard and…and…I didn't mean to break him Sarah, I'm sorry, I'm really, really sorry Sarah!" Toby pleaded, the little tike bursting into tears.

Sarah pulled him into her arms and gave him a comforting hug. "Oh Toby, don't cry sweetie. It's okay, I know you didn't do it on purpose. I'm not mad."

"Your not?" he sniffled.

"No honey, I'm not. Things happen sometimes that we just can't help, we all make mistakes."

"Even you Sarah?"

"Even me Toby." Sarah admitted, ruffling his hair playfully. Her mind flashed back for the millionth time to the last time she had seen the Goblin King and rejected his proposal for the sake of her brother. 'Was that really a mistake?' she caught herself thinking, before quickly pushing the thought back to its assigned corner in her mind.

"I painted the picture to make up for it, cause Mommy couldn't find one to replace it. Do you still wanna see it?" Toby asked timidly, looking up at her through strands of yellow hair.

"Of course. Let's see it." This brightened Toby up a bit, and he pulled her to the side of her bed to look upon flat, white piece of paper. At the top, as a sort of signature, were two hand prints with small smiley faces beneath them: Sarah recognized the smaller hand as Toby's and figured the bigger one to be his friend Bobby. Beneath their hands was the child-like reconfiguration of the Goblin King himself, all purple and yellow and blue. Though it was only a child's finger painting, Sarah had to admit it was a pretty good likeness of him. Toby had even put glitter on the coat and a big blue dot in his hand for the glass crystal he always held. What caught Sarah's breath though wasn't the likeness of it to her former adversary, but the yellow crescent shaped necklace sitting on his glittery blue and purple jacket. Sarah remembered no necklace on the Jareth figurine Toby had broken, and she had never shown him the necklace Jareth had left her to remember her adventures in the Underground.

"Toby…" Sarah said slowly, fighting to keep her voice in check so as not to alarm her little brother. "…Where'd you get the idea for that necklace on him? Was that on the figurine?"

Toby shook his head, looking closer at his painting. "No, but he looked like he was missing something. I saw it in my head and just put it there, and then he seemed happier to have it." Toby said matter-of-factly. A familiar warmth emanated from Sarah's chest again, the same warmth she had felt at work that morning, but lighter, like laughter. Sarah unbuttoned the top button of her shirt, pulling the necklace out from beneath it. She sat slowly on the floor, her eyes locked upon the warm golden pendant's infinity symbol that glowed white beneath her fingertips. She thought at first that maybe she was just seeing the glow there, but Toby's question shot that thought aside. "Sarah, where'd you get that from? And why is it glowing?"

Sarah looked up into Toby's innocent blue eyes. "I…I got it from the Goblin King. After I saved you…" her voiced had a haunting tone to it.

"What are you talking about, Sarah? You're scaring me." Toby said, stepping back from his wild eyed sister.

That pulled Sarah out of her shock immediately. She hated seeing Toby afraid. Pulling him onto her lap, she hugged him apologetically. "I'm sorry Toby, I didn't mean to scare you. It's just…well, this necklace and your painting are proof that I'm not being crazy today." She laughed dryly.

"I don't think your crazy Sarah. And whoever does isn't very smart at all, cause you know more than them about stuff." He nodded definitively. Sarah smiled and kissed him on the cheek, which he proceeded to stick his tongue out at and wipe off. He was in the cootie phase.

"Toby…" Sarah started, being serious again. Toby looked at her attentively. "There's something I need to tell you, something that until now I didn't think I'd ever have to tell you…"

4:32 pm same day; The Williams' Home

"I'm home! Sorry I took so long; I realized I needed to get some groceries for dinner tonight!" Karen called into the house as she entered the front door, carrying her purse and four plastic bags.

Sarah looked up from the large piece of construction paper she and Toby had been drawing on in the kitchen. "Oh! You need some help?" she asked, moving to stand up.

"Oh no no, it's fine dear, sit down, I've got it." Karen insisted, placing the bags on the kitchen counter beside the stove. Hanging her purse on the hook beside the kitchen doorway, she sat exhaustedly in the chair beside Toby and took a look at their work. "Wow, you two, looks like you've really been busy since I've been gone." Karen commented on the expansive drawing.

Sarah chuckled. "I made the mistake of telling Toby a story from one of my new book ideas today and he decided he wanted to use his art skills from class today to draw it out."

"Nuh uh Sarah, you wanted to draw it toooo." Toby protested. Sarah stuck her tongue out at him and ruffled his fluffy blond hair.

Karen laughed at the two siblings. "You two are such a pair. It looks very interesting though. Who from the story are you drawing there, Toby?" she asked her son, pointing at the corner drawing he was working on.

"Well this is Hoggle, the old man who doesn't like fairies, and Sir Didus…"

"Didymus, Toby." Sarah corrected.

"Di…Didyus…the dog man Sarah talks about in her books." He continued on. Sarah giggled under her breath. "And Ludo is here, and this is the dog man's horse dog, Ambrosyius…"

"You can pronounce Ambrosyius, but you can't pronounce Didymus?" Sarah quipped.

Toby glared at her before continuing on. "Anyway, that's Ambrosyius, and these are the Fieries and this is the Goblin King and the Goblin Queen in the ballroom." Even Sarah had to take a look at his drawing as she listened to the end of his description. He had all the child-like depictions of characters from the Underground in a white room, sitting in a circle watching the Goblin King dance with the figure of a woman wearing a flowing white gown and a crown in the center of the room. The odd thing was, Toby's Goblin Queen looked a lot like Sarah….

"Toby, where'd you get the Goblin Queen from? That wasn't in the story I told you…" Sarah asked suspiciously. Toby only grinned.

7:00 pm same day; Sarah's driveway

Sarah laid her head back exhaustedly against her car seat after parking and turning her car off. The events of the day skimmed through her mind, from Marie's wake up call, to the heated work meeting, slowing down at her confession to Toby.

"_You wished me away?" Toby had asked after, a look of sadness on his face. Sarah had wanted so much to hold him in her arms and make the look disappear forever. _

"_I did. I was a stupid selfish teenager, and I didn't realize how horrible it would be without you in my life until you were gone Toby. That's why I fought so hard to get you back, and fix the mistake I had made. I'm sorry Toby. I'm so sorry I wished you away." Sarah had started crying, thinking he would never forgive her for it. But he did, and showed her with a big bear hug._

"_Don't cry Sarah, it's ok. I know you didn't mean it. Everybody makes mistakes, right?" he said, echoing her previous statements to him. _

_Sarah had to smile. Her brother was so much smarter than his age deemed him. "Yea big guy."_

"_I thought all your stories looked familiar! I was real little but I still remember the big castle and playing with the goblins and Jareth and everything! Hey Sarah…what happened to Jareth? After you beat him and got me back?"_

"_I don't really know Toby. He came to my room a few days after the celebration and gave me his medallion, I guess so I would remember everything for the both of us."_

"_Are you sure that's why he gave it to you?" Toby asked, poking the still glowing medallion._

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Well, he could have given you something else to remember him by, something less important. Cause his medallion looks really important to him. But instead of getting you something else, he gave it to you."_

_Sarah hadn't thought deeply about the King's reasoning for giving her the medallion until Toby's statement. Now, she wondered if her wise little brother was right._

"_Bobby's never gonna believe this." Toby mumbled to himself as he traced his fingers over the infinity symbol, but Sarah heard him._

"_Toby, you can't tell Bobby. You can't tell anyone about this."_

"_Why not?" he asked._

"_Because no one would believe you for one, and for two, it's our secret together. It'd be no fun if it wasn't our secret, don't you think?" _

"…_yea, I guess so. But, can I at least draw it to show Bobby and tell him it's from a story you told me? Pleaaasseeee??? He'd think it's so cool!" Toby begged. Sarah had laughed, and couldn't help but agree. She even offered to help Toby draw it, which he graciously accepted. _

'What was with that "Goblin Queen" thing though, Toby? Do you know something I don't know?' Sarah thought to herself. She wouldn't put it past him; ever since his time in the Underground, Toby had shown himself to be an amazingly intuitive kid. The medallion gave a light jump beneath her shirt as if in reply. Sarah glared down at it. "I bet you had something to do with my earlier issues at work, huh? The Goblin King better have a good explanation for you nearly destroying my career." She spoke angrily to it. Grabbing her satchel and cell phone, Sarah climbed out of her car and made her way up her flowered path to the doorway. Twilight had fallen on the land, and the crescent moon looked down on Sarah's tall, slim form disappearing into her cottage. Flicking on the living room lights, she locked the door behind her, dropped her stuff on the couch, and walked briskly to her bedroom. Going into her closet, Sarah changed out of the hunter green suit outfit into a comfortable pair of jeans, some corduroy blue flats, and a cream colored poet's shirt. Stepping out and looking into her vanity mirror, she took a brush and brushed down any stray hairs she could, checking her shirt for any stains and her teeth for any spinach left from the dinner Karen had made for her. She moved to go to the bathroom to brush her teeth then stopped.

'What are you doing?' she asked herself, catching the primping routine she usually executed right before a date or a meeting. The meetings were more prevalent than the dates, but she still knew the signs. Pulling herself back to the mirror, she sat down in the vanity's wheeled chair. First, she tried calling for Hoggle to see if he'd show up, or if the problem she had discovered years ago was still going on. Three calls, no answer. She proceeded to try and call Ludo, Sir Didymus and Ambrosyius as well, but none of them answered either. She had no choice. Taking a deep breath, she called for him.

"Jareth."

No answer.

"Jareth." She called, louder this time.

Nothing.

Sighing in frustration, Sarah looked down again at the medallion. She had left it outside of her shirt this time, getting annoyed at the way it kept making her chest sweat. "Damn you, Goblin King, where the hell are you?" Then she had a thought. 'What if he's not answering me on purpose because he knows I'm upset at him for giving me this thing?' "If that's the case, you are sooo not getting out of this one, Goblin King." Standing up, she glared defiantly at the mirror and made her wish.

"I wish the Goblin King was here, right now."

A black clad figure appeared behind her almost immediately, his face hidden in the mirror behind Sarah's head.

"It's about time! Why didn't you answer before when I called, you…" Sarah turned and stopped short, backing towards her door. But it flew closed before she could reach it. Her eyes were wide with confusion and fear as she faced a tall man with long, greasy black hair, dark blue eyes like the sea in a storm with harsh black markings around them similar to Jareth's, and a pointed grin that sent shivers down Sarah's spine. His looming figure flashed Sarah's mind back to the point in her recurring nightmare where Jareth gets swallowed up by darkness. A darkness with a face…she could see it now, in her mind's eye. And the face belonged to the man before her…

"Because, little girl, my name is not Jareth." He replied to her incomplete question. His voice was deep and cold as ice. "I am Goliath, the new King of the Goblins."

"Wh…what are you…what are you talking about? Where's the...the real Goblin King?" Sarah stammered out.

"He has been…what is the word you use in this world? Ah, yes. He has been overthrown. The Goblins, as well as the Goblin City and the Labyrinth, are under my rule now."

Sarah's heart nearly plummeted to the ground at the implications of the word "overthrown". "What have you done? What have you done to him? To the Goblins, to my friends?"

"Why do you ask? The world of the Underground no longer has meaning to you, now does it? You left it all behind for your mortal world. Its current affairs are no business of yours, child."

"Monster. What the hell do you want then?"

"The medallion. Give it to me, and I will leave you be forever more. You can go back to your mundane mortal life and you will never again have to cross paths with the Underground. You will be free."

Sarah glared defiantly at the man called Goliath, clutching the medallion protectively. "The Underground is what freed me. And my mortal life is anything but mundane now, thanks to it. I have never regretted the time I spent in the Underground, and I never will. Only one man was ever meant to rule the Labyrinth and the Goblin City, and it isn't you." The medallion glowed brightly in response to her speech. Goliath, however, clapped mockingly.

"You are quite the actress, aren't you, child? Such powerful words from such a weak looking mortal woman, who deep inside resents the Underground for making her an outcast in this world. Too bad your skills will not help. Give me the medallion, Sarah."

"What do you want it for?"

"Why, to help make the Goblin City a better place of course. My predecessor, Jareth, had it in such disarray. As its new King, I will make it better." He smiled that spine shivering smile again.

"I don't believe you. I won't give you a way to destroy everything there that I love. I won't let you destroy that world."

"Destroy it? Why Sarah, you take me for some dark, overpowering lord! I only mean to make it better. Come, let me show you." Goliath said, reaching out his hand for her. Before she could answer yes or no, a large dark bubble formed around the two of them and moments later they disappeared from Sarah's bedroom.

A silver crystal stood on the gloved fingertip of another man, watching from somewhere high, where he could not be reached. A grimace of pain and anguish stood on his face.

And it begins. Prepare yourself, Sarah, for what you will see. And for all you will have to do to save us.

**I had intended this to be two chapters but then I read it and realized it was better as a whole chapter in itself. So here it is! Such interesting developments occurring! Where has the real Goblin King gone? Who is this Goliath person? What will happen to Sarah now? And what was with Toby and that Goblin Queen thing? Find out in the next exciting installment in "A New Goblin King: Return to the Labyrinth"! (I've always wanted to say that lol) And as always, don't forget; constructive criticism makes the world go round! Bye!**


	5. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** I hope you all enjoyed the last one and I will now proceed to shut up so you can read. Have at it!

**Chapter 4**

Daytime; The Hill with the (living?) tree overlooking the Underground

The first thing Sarah noticed once back in the Underground was the brightness of the sun. The sun hadn't been out much at all during her first adventure; now it was bright with cliché blue skies and chirping birds all around. The second thing she noticed was the tree on the Hill. Her memory recalled Jareth standing next to a dead tree on that Hill at the beginning of her journey, telling her to turn back before it was too late. Now, not only was the tree very much green and alive, but it was larger than she remembered, its oaken leaves bigger than her own hand. The very view from the Hill was different; where Sarah remembered seeing orange, dusty looking skies above the brown, dusty looking Labyrinth that spread impressively as far as the eye could see around a large gray city and a tall brown castle, Sarah now saw bright blue happy skies over whitewashed Labyrinth walls, an overly colorful Goblin City, and a tall white castle that looked like it had come out of a princess book. Sarah's mouth dropped open.

"….it's bright…what the?" Sarah muttered out. She jumped as Goliath's voice answered a little too close to her ear for comfort.

"I'm afraid Jareth had this place in terrible disarray when I arrived. It was ridiculously unclean and dreary, so I made a few adjustments to it."

"A few?" Sarah said sarcastically.

"Does it not look wonderful? Peaceful and joyous now? Isn't it better this way, Sarah?" Goliath whispered seductively into her ear.

Sarah had to admit that Jareth's kingdom did look happier and more peaceful this way. More child friendly, if you will. 'Maybe…maybe Goliath isn't a bad King, if he made the Labyrinth look like this.' she tried to convince herself. But his voice and that sharp-toothed grin of his still gave her chills in a bad way, and something in her just couldn't feel right about the way things looked. Plus, she still had no idea what he had done to "overthrow" the real Goblin King, and she hoped beyond all hope it wasn't the worse of her thoughts.

_Things aren't always what they seem in this place. So, you can't take anything for granted._ she remembered Hoggle and the little worm in the wall saying to her.

"Take me to the Goblin City. I want to see the Goblins." Sarah demanded of Goliath, turning and stepping back from him.

Goliath's eyes flashed darkly, like lightning crashing in a raging storm over the ocean. It flashed so quickly, Sarah thought at first that she'd imagined it, but his fake smile told her otherwise. "Very well…child. I will show you all you wish to see, so that you may put your heart at rest and freely give me the medallion." Another bubble formed around the two and soon they were standing before the gates of the Goblin City.

As whitewashed and clean as it had looked from the Hill, it looked even whiter and cleaner up close. The large Guardian that had stood at the gates was gone, as were the spikes and the dirt floors. Cobblestone paved the way into the city now, and the stone houses that had once been broken down, drab, and gray, surrounded by garbage and filth, were now wooden cottages painted different shades of orange, red, and blue, with white clean cobblestone streets and picket fences surrounding each one. The Goblins were all clothed in colorful rags and tunics, busily moving about cleaning the streets. Where Sarah's last encounter with the Goblins of the city had been noisy and crazed, full of gunshot and war cries as the Goblins tried to stop her from getting to the castle, now all was silent in the city, save for sweeping sounds from brooms and a few birds twittering here and there, making their nests on the tiled rooftops. But something wasn't right. As Sarah walked through the streets, followed closely by Goliath's shadowy figure, the Goblins kept sweeping and cleaning, never giving her a glance or a greeting of any sort. One Goblin accidentally bumped into Sarah's leg, and when Sarah apologized to it, it said nothing and continued on its way.

"What the hell is going on here?" Sarah wondered aloud.

"Peace, dear child. Peace and calm and comfort." Goliath answered, sweeping his hand out towards the silent city. "You see, without their former King letting chaos and disorder reign in his Kingdom, while drawing fear from his subjects to do what is more natural to them, they can now do as they please. They have brought order to their city, and are doing what is natural to them now, and they are happy as can be."

Sarah looked over the Goblin City as he said this, watching the silent inhabitants. Paying Goliath no mind when he tried to pull her back, Sarah bent down and stopped a female Goblin in a green tunic dress with a tuft of wild orange hair. Her face was flat and green and her big blue eyes seemed blank as the cobblestone floor she kept sweeping at.

"Miss? Miss, can you tell me what's going on? What's happened here, what's happened to the Labyrinth, to the Goblin City?" Sarah asked, shaking the female Goblin's shoulders.

The female Goblin looked up at her, as if just noticing she were there. "I'm cleaning the city miss. We're all cleaning the city, it was such a mess. We have a new King now, and he lets us clean. Our home is so much better now." She smiled. Her voice was high pitched and robotic, her lines rehearsed.

"Are you happy here? Are you really happy with all of this?"

"Of course we are miss. We are very happy with our new home. King Goliath is very good to us, as long as we behave." She spoke robotically again.

Sarah moved closer so she could whisper without being heard by Goliath. "Please, tell me where my friends are so I can see how they feel about this. Where are Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymus?"

"Hoggle? Ludo? Sir Didymus?" the Goblin woman repeated, cocking her head as though she didn't know who Sarah was talking about.

"What about the real Goblin King? What about Jareth, what's happened to him? What's happened to everyone here?" Sarah pleaded.

At the mention of Jareth's name, a change came over the Goblin. Her smile went away and she fell into deep thought, as though trying to remember something. "Jareth…the Goblin…King…" she muttered. But before Sarah could get anything else out of her, Goliath hoisted Sarah up by her collar roughly and threw her behind him. Sarah skidded on her back, stopping several feet away at the toes of a male Goblin sweeping, who didn't notice her at all.

"Sarah, you are too smart for you own good, did you know that?" Goliath growled out, advancing on her.

Sarah clambered up to a standing position, holding her ground as he came closer. "What have you done? This isn't right, you've made them into zombies with no will of their own!"

"Zombies is a relative term, NOW…" he started, grabbing her by the throat and throwing her against a wall. Sarah struggled beneath him, clawing madly at his hands and wrists and kicking him frantically with her feet, but he wouldn't release her. He moved his face closer to hers, taking in her scent and looking over her as though she were a piece of meat he was tempted to take a bite of. "You are quite lovely Sarah, and I have no qualms about _taking_ what I need…" he said in a sultry voice, fingering the chain around Sarah's neck that held the medallion. "…and what I want from you…" he continued, moving his free hand down to her breast. Sarah winced at the movement. "But it would be better, for the both of us if you gave me the medallion now, willingly. Just give me the medallion Sarah, then you can go home, and all of this will seem like nothing more than a dream."

Sarah knew, just by looking at his terrifying blue eyes, that the threat was not empty, but she also knew that giving the necklace up would be bad news for her friends and Jareth, wherever he was. Goliath squeezed her neck harder in impatience, blocking her airway momentarily. 'What should I do?' she thought to herself.

_Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered…_

Suddenly, Sarah knew exactly what she had to do. As Goliath moved closer to begin unbuttoning her blouse, angry lust in his eyes and a menacing bulge at his pants, Sarah choked out under his grasp "W…Wait! Please!" Thinking she would finally agree to his demands, Goliath released her from his hold, pinning her to the wall with his body so she wouldn't escape. Sarah gasped, greedily taking air back into her deprived lungs. "I…" she began, her heart not doing a good job of keeping up with her head.

"Take your time. I did choke you pretty roughly." Goliath quipped.

Sarah glared at him, catching her breath. "I wish you would let me make a deal with you, _Goblin King_." She rambled out quickly, before Goliath could stop her. He moved to choke her again, but the wish had worked and he had no choice but to make a deal.

"Damn you, child. You'll regret that soon enough." He stated in a low voice, backing away from her. His eyes were furiously raging storms, but he kept his body composed. "What deal would you like to make then?" he growled out, inwardly cursing her and the former Goblin King for giving her such power.

"I will go through the Labyrinth again, this time to save the real Goblin King and the Goblin Kingdom. I will have 13 hours in which to solve the Labyrinth, and if I do, you will bring Jareth back, restore everything and everyone back to the way they were before you came around, and burn in the dark depths of hell for all eternity."

Goliath smirked at her saucy nature. "And what, pray tell, would I get out of this little bargain of yours? Other than a permanent tan should you…heh, win?"

This part Sarah had to force herself to say, but she knew it had to be done. "If I lose, and I don't make it to the castle beyond the Goblin City and say what must be said before time runs out….I will…I will give you the medallion…"

"Hmm, as wonderful as that sounds, I don't see much incentive in agreeing to that, when I could just take it from you by force."

"Then…I'll become your slave. I'll stay here and…and be your slave, for however long you wish me to be." She offered disdainfully.

Now Goliath smiled genuinely, his intrigue sparked at the thought of getting the medallion and a new bedding partner in the process. It had been a long time since he had bedded with a human girl, and such a fiery girl as Sarah seemed promising to him. "Very well. You have a deal." He grinned, offering his hand for her to shake.

Sarah cautiously did so, and found herself back in front of the tree on The Hill, at the beginning of the Labyrinth. Goliath stood behind her, next to a familiar brown grandfather clock with thirteen numbers on its face.

"Your friends will not be around this time to help you, child. So don't expect to get through as easily as you did the first time, under Jareth's watch. You could just give me the medallion now Sarah, and I would spare you from becoming my slave. You could return to your family and friends, and be free."

Sarah contemplated this, knowing full well that if she lost, he would hold her to her wager and keep her with him forever. But her friends were trapped somewhere, she just knew it. The Goblins were mindless zombies and the Goblin King was gone…where she didn't want to let herself imagine. She couldn't just leave things as they were, no matter how much she tried to tell herself this wasn't her world to save. She knew deep down, ever since her first trip to the Underground, that it had become her world and would always be.

"I'll see you at the castle beyond the Goblin City, Goliath." She answered.

Goliath frowned at her stubbornness, but began the clock's count. "You have thirteen hours in which to solve the Labyrinth, before this Kingdom, you, and that medallion become mine, forever. A pity you didn't accept my offer. What a pity…" his voice echoed as he and the clock disappeared into the air.

** I hope you like this chapter guys! Sorry it took so long, but school's started so I'll be going between this, that and every other project I've got going. Bear with me, I promise I'll get this really going this weekend! And remember, constructive criticism makes the world go round! Later!**


	6. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** Two in one day! Go me! : p Okay, I added a Jareth excerpt at the beginning of this because he was complaining about his lack of parts in the story so far so here's Chapter 5 for you all, featuring the Goblin King!

Jareth:….that poor excuse for an introduction was hardly necessary.

Whatever Goblin King, have at it.

**Chapter 5**

Through dangers untold, and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way to the castle, beyond the Goblin City, to take back the child that you have stolen.

Somewhere far off, high up, in a dark place, a younger version of a woman's voice echoed in a man's head as he had watched and listened to her present at a meeting. Shadow covered him in all areas, his face masked, save for two gleaming mismatched orbs of color that were his eyes. Seated in a chair, the only thing of substance in the desolate place, the man held a glass bubble steadily on his fingertips, watching the only one who had ever bested his Labyrinth stand tall and beautiful in the view of his glass bubble, her womanly figure apparent in the hunter green suit she wore. Jareth was especially pleased that she had been wearing his medallion quite often since he had relinquished it to her, and had chosen that day to leave it round her neck. He kept a relatively silent vigil, grinning with pride when his Sarah battled mightily with her wit, scoffing at the foolish Mindy woman, grinning knowingly when he heard his own familiar accent and saw his own familiar actions reflected by a blank minded Sarah to a small minded Mindy. He had smiled with nostalgia at watching Sarah with the young boy he had been called to take away, the boy who had brought he and Sarah together in the first place, his eyes glinted with pride at the positive changes Sarah had made since her time in his world. He even laughed outright at Toby's drawing and Sarah's reaction to the Goblin Queen. And now he watched on the edge of his seat as his once strongest adversary became his only ally, and one who was once his greatest ally stood now as his greatest adversary. It did not go unnoticed by him her reaction at hearing that Jareth was gone, and not knowing what had happened to him. He nearly jumped out of his seat when Sarah was thrown backward and nearly choked and raped, but calmed down and cheered inwardly for his beloved as she found the right wish to make to save herself, and potentially the whole of the Underground.

"Such a smart girl you are, my Sarah. But I suppose you are no longer a girl, but a young woman. I'm sorry to have to trouble you with so much now, but you are our last hope." Jareth spoke to himself, his mismatched eyes looking longingly upon Sarah's image. "You bested my Labyrinth once before, stood before me untrembling in the end, though I was frightening, and won back your baby brother. Though this will not be 'a piece of cake', you can surely best this man and win our freedom. And if all goes as Fate ordains, we two may win so much more…"

As Jareth watched Goliath leave Sarah behind on the Hill to begin the quest, he shook his head forlornly. "What became of you, Goliath?" Jareth whispered to the unhearing glass. "What caused you to be consumed by such shadows? My dearest friend, I'm sorry it has come to this."

Sarah carefully made her way down the familiar hill, towards the Labyrinth's wall. The lakes that had been dirty and greenish when she first arrived were now clear as crystal, the fairies thriving amongst pink flowers along the wall's edge. Though it looked different now, and it had been years since Sarah had last been there, she knew exactly where to look for the door. But before she could even enter it, the many fairies along the wall all flew toward her to block her way.

"H-Hey!" she spluttered out, fairies swerving through and around her legs mischievously, making her fall hard on her butt. "OWW!" she shouted angrily at the little mischief makers. They laughed snidely at her, making a wall out of their bodies across the doorway.

Standing up, Sarah dusted her pants off and glared at the wall of fairy devils. "No wonder Hoggle hated them so much. Wait…" Sarah had an idea, and hurriedly set to work looking around the lakes and the wall until… "Yes!" she exclaimed as she spotted Hoggle's spray can next to a clump of flowers on her left. Grabbing it and finding it satisfyingly full, she ran to the moving wall and started spraying in a frenzy. Fairy after fairy fell to the ground, while the others started screeching and screaming and flitting away in panic. Finally, the doorway was clear, and Sarah stepped over the pile of fallen fairies in triumph. Walking into the first part of the Labyrinth, Sarah looked up and down the now white walls. Nothing to be seen either way, not even the normal tree trunks and spider webs that had been in accumulation during her last visit. Remembering the helpful advice the worm had given her before, she tested the wall in front of her to see if it held an unseen secret, and to her relief, it did. Walking through it to the left this time, she walked up a colored stone staircase into a thick, grassy area surrounding a large lake full of clear blue water. The area was open and clear, save for the lake, and a doorway in the wall stood on the other side opposite from Sarah

"Normal so far." Sarah mumbled to herself, cautiously walking around the large body of water. "But not everything is as it seems here." she reminded herself.

Halfway round the lake to the other side, a small, white, and oddly normal looking rabbit hopped up to Sarah's feet, surprising her. "Aww, what a cutie." Sarah cooed quietly to the creature. The rabbit sniffed her foot, looking up at her with friendly eyes. Slowly, so as not to frighten it, Sarah bent down to her knees to touch the little rabbit on the head. As soon as her hand made contact with its ears, the rabbit stood on its hind legs and grabbed her arm roughly. Growing speedily, its fur turned a dull gray color and began falling off in patches. Its ears grew tremendously along with the rest of its body, and its eyes dulled and hardened from a gentle pink to a faded blood red. Its buck teeth grew into large canines that hung out over its bottom lip; the evil rabbit version of Ludo emerged.

Screaming, Sarah tried to run, but the rabbit had her tightly in its large pawed grasp. Picking her up and throwing her over its shoulder, the rabbit monster carried Sarah towards the lake.

"LET GO OF MEEEE!!" Sarah screamed uselessly at the rabbit, banging on its back with her fists. But he kept her in his grasp. Lifting her head up, it became increasingly apparent that the rabbit intended on bringing her to the water to "meet" something that was swimming just below the surface…something big.

"WHY ME?" Sarah banged her fists harder against the tremendous beast, but he would not budge. Only two feet from the water, Sarah noticed a small wound near its armpit that had recently scabbed over. 'Maybe if I jab something into it…" Sarah thought to herself. The medallion pressed between her chest and the monster began to warm. Sarah yanked it out quickly and without a second thought, jabbed the heated pendant against the monster's wound. Howling in agony, the monster released Sarah roughly onto the grass, tears streaming from its big red eyes. As Sarah scrambled away, she felt a twinge of sympathy for the creature. At least she did until it stood up growling and ran toward her.

"WHOA NALLY!" she shouted as she dodged its flailing body, sprinting toward the doorway as fast as her legs would take her. A large three eyed fish jumping out of the water and eyeing her hungrily made her run for it faster. Diving into the doorway like baseball player running for home, Sarah heard the slam of a new wall closing on the doorway and the thud of the beast against it. Catching her breath, Sarah's hand clutched at the medallion. "This…is the first time since I got this thing…that I'm actually grateful to you giving it to me, Goblin King." Sarah commented to herself. "Though I probably wouldn't be here if you hadn't given me this thing in the first place, but it's pointless to dwell on that now, isn't it? If I get eaten in here though, because of you, I swear I'll haunt you wherever the hell you are." She threatened, getting up to continue on.

Walking down a winding path of white that seemed too perfectly cliché to be real, Sarah walked for what felt like a good ten or twenty minutes before coming to a single door in the wall. The door was made of more white stone, with intricate blue flower markings running along it, and a silver doorknob sitting on the left side. Looking behind her, to her surprise, Sarah found the path was still there. 'Weird…' she thought, cautiously turning the doorknob to open it. Beyond was the hedge maze Sarah and Hoggle had made it to after escaping the Oubliette and the Cleaners, looking even neater and greener than it had before. Looking down at the floor, Sarah cautiously put one foot down on the stone walkway. Nothing happened. Putting her other foot down, with her both hands still on the doorknob should a trapdoor open, Sarah quickly ran across the walkway to the other side. The door slammed closed behind her, and Sarah was safe. Staring at the door and the trapless doorway, Sarah smiled and boastfully put her hands on her hips.

"Hey, that was a piece of…"

"_NO! Don't say it!"_ several unheard voices yelled at her from dark places.

But it was too late. The minute she let "cake" fly from her mouth, gravity pulled Sarah's feet down into the darkness of another trapdoor within the hedge maze; one without hands to help her.

"Why do I always say that??" Sarah cursed herself angrily amidst her fall.

Goliath laughed far off from within the castle, watching Sarah's fall through a magic mirror. "This is the end for you, child. I win." He chuckled cruelly to himself.

Sarah cried as she fell, air rushing up into her hair. Her life flashed before her eyes, or at least the life that began with her first endeavors in the Underground. Toby, her stepmother and father flashed by with their smiling faces, followed by Maria's worried face in the parking lot that afternoon. Hoggle's hobbling figure came next, beside Sir Didymus riding Ambrosyius and Ludo holding his hand. The party in her room the night she defeated the Goblin King came, and then…the Goblin King himself. His mismatched eyes, full of anger, pity, mischief, arrogance, humor, mirth, and sadness at her final words. _"You have no power over me."_ His song creeped into her mind. _"Oh you turn my world, you precious thing. You starve and near exhaust me."_ His eyes bore into her soul. _"Everything I've done, I've done for you. I move the stars for no one."_ She saw herself, searching for him in the ballroom dream. _"You've run so long, you've run so far."_ She saw his eyes staring at her from a distant corner. _"Your eyes can be so cruel. Just as I can be so cruel."_ She turned and he was gone again. _"Though I do believe in youu. Yes I dooo."_ She was frantic again; she needed him now more than ever. _"Live without the sunlight, love without your heart beat. I-I I, can't live, within you…"_ Turning, he stood so close to her, one brown and one blue eye full of a new emotion, boring into her, dancing with her.

"Jareth…" Sarah whispered into the empty air, warmth enveloping her body as she blacked out.

**OMG I went in all different directions before I finally got this chapter out lol. Thank goodness I got it. Okay, I hope you enjoyed this. I'll try and update again ASAP, but until then reeaadd. And remember, constructive criticism makes the world go round! Later gators!**


	7. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:** Forever and a day later, I finally get two chapters up! DON'T HURT ME! Lol I apologize to all who have been reading for the delay, but college is taxing and my brain hurt too much to write for awhile.

Jareth: That is by far the lamest excuse I have ever heard. You can't think of anything more to say than that?

Sure Jareth, how bout this? I'm writing you out of the story if you keep talkin junk…

Jareth:….carry on.

Thank you. ANYWAY lol. I hope you all enjoy this, and I PROMISE to get at least one more chapter up this week. So enjoy and have at it!

**Chapter 6**

"Sarah..."

A voice...so familiar...so haunting...where am I?

"Sarah...come come, you must wake up now Sarah..."

Sarah Williams opened her eyes. "Am I dreaming?" she asked the apparition before her.

"No." he answered.

"Are we dead?" she asked the ghost.

"I'm glad to say that no, we are very much alive still. At least for now." he replied with a solemn smirk. He sat her up, leaning her against his gray clothed leg.

Sarah stared in shock at the man before her. A blast from the past as it were, one she feared she would never see again. His voice, sultry and accented, was still the same, as were most of his features. He wore the same poetic type shirt he always wore, but it was in a gray, melancholy color, and tight gray breeches to match. His hair, still platinum blonde as ever and as wildly feathery as the wings he donned in his owl form had gotten longer and even more unruly, if that were possible. His face still held the same old arrogance, but with a touch of humility and...was it kindness she saw in him? His eyes, slanted, mismatched, and perfect, held no glitter, nor did the rest of his body; it only held the markings that made him look as Kingly and otherworldly as he once did, though now shadows made him look quite a deal older (of course, no where near as old as he really was). The ears that had always been hidden beneath his wild hair during her first visit to the Labyrinth were now out, portraying the long and pointed state that were the Fae traits in many history recollections. He looked for the most part the same, seemed the same, but Sarah could tell from the get go that he was different from the man she once viewed as a villain. Lightly touching his face, as though afraid he would disappear beneath her hands, she breathed out his name.

"Goblin King..."

He smirked, not as arrogantly as he had at one time, but with a tenderness he had never seen in him before. "I prefer to be called Jareth these days, considering the circumstances. But yes...it is I, Sarah..." Softly, he took the hand that had touched his face in his, giving it a gentle squeeze. It sent a chill of something more than cold to Sarah when he took her hand because his gloves were missing, and the skin of his hands was soft and strong against hers, and warmer than she'd have imagined.

Jareth had waited quite some time for his Sarah to come back to him, dreaming often of her ever since his defeat by her. Ever since the prophecy came to pass…Suddenly he was awoken from his lamenting state by a rough punch to his left arm. "Ow!" He responded to Sarah's attack on his person. "And what, pray tell, was that for?" he chided, slightly amused in his annoyance.

"THAT, good King, is for giving me this damned medallion, almost ruining my career today, and getting me into this Gods forsaken mess!" she replied in a torrent, accentuating each wrong with a punch to his arm. She tried to punch him one more time for good measure, but he grabbed her fist before it made contact.

"Sarah," he began, carefully measured annoyance in his voice, but a coy grin in his eyes "beware. I can only take so much abuse from you before I feel the need to fight back. Though I must admit…"he said with a wry smile "I have missed your fiery personality in my kingdom since you left."

'Same old Jareth.' She thought to herself. Sarah ignored how handsome his smile was and furrowed her eyebrows, fighting to stay mad with him. "What are you doing here?" she asked him indignantly.

"The better question is, why are you here, my dear. For you see, you have appeared here to me." he replied in that same cool English accented voice. Sarah then realized just how closely she was sitting beside him, practically in his lap. His warm breath was so close to her face, it caused another shiver to run down her spine, which equally caused a blush to run to her face.

Sarah took that moment to sit up on her own and look at their surroundings, adding distance to their close proximity. They were in a dark place, far darker than any normal oubliette, and far colder. The only perceptible light anywhere was being made by Jareth's crystals, sitting on the ground around them in a perfect circle. A lone chair sat in the middle of the circle, a chair she assumed he had been sitting in before she fell in.

"Is this the oubliette I fell into?" she asked looking up at him. She found that she couldn't take in his mismatched gaze for very long, for it awakened feelings in her she had buried long ago, and so she feigned more interest in the room, hoping he wouldn't notice.

Being the Goblin King, a Fae, and a very observant man, he did notice, but paid no heed, as he had little time. "No, it's not. And why you ever thought to get ahead of yourself and call your journey a piece of cake ONCE again, I will never know." Sarah shot him a look, which he smirked at but ignored. "No, we are in my prison; the place where Goliath is holding me until he can get his hands on the medallion."

"He's imprisoned you? Here?" Sarah said incredulously. "Well we have to get you out! I got in somehow, maybe we can find a way out, and then you can..." she began, trying to stand up.

"It's not that simple, Sarah." he interrupted, pulling her back down, into his lap this time and making her blush again. "I am not in a place that I can be so easily released from. Only you can release me, but you must do it from the outside, once you make it to the Castle Beyond the Goblin City."

"But why can't I get you out now? I got in here, didn't I? Maybe the oubliette I fell into led to here!" she protested.

"I very much doubt that. In fact, I believe that it was my gift to you, so long ago, that brought you here to me." he replied, grinning reminiscently as his hand gently touched the medallion on Sarah's chest. The medallion shivered and vibrated happily at his touch, the infinity symbol glowing a warm mercurial silver. Nearly the same reaction Sarah was having inwardly to him, she thought to herself. Sarah's hand unconsciously reached to cover Jareth's on the medallion, only to find that her hand was fading rapidly, and the fade was climbing up her wrist.

"Wh...what's happening?"

Jareth quickly pulled Sarah to her feet, his face blank and untelling, but his eyes fearful. "Quickly, take this." Jareth commanded, pushing a cool crystal into Sarah's unfaded hand. "I knew time would be short, and so I recorded a message for you on this. Ask it to play the message and it will, but you must do so as soon as you awaken in the oubliette, where you will be safe from the eyes of Goliath's mirrors."

"Mirrors? The oubliette? Wait, what's going on Jareth?" Sarah tried to ask.

"There's no time, Sarah. The crystal will explain all you need to know for now." he said, turning from her.

"Wait!" she cried out, tucking the crystal into her pocket and grasping his sleeve with her good hand. He turned his smoldering gaze on her, a look of sadness and...longing? in his eyes. "Why did you give me this?" She pointed at the medallion round her neck. "Why did you give me the medallion Jareth? You can't expect me to be able to do this on my own, I can't!"

He extended his slender fingers to her chin, lifting it up to look tenderly? into her fading eyes. "Yes, you can. I believe in you, Sarah. I have always believed in you. And that is why I gave you the medallion." Another look, unrecognizable but warm to her, flashed in his eyes and made her heart skip a beat as she disappeared from his sight. "See you again soon..." he whispered to the dismal air.

"...Sarah..."

"Sawah! Sawah!"

"My Lady! Please, you must wake up!"

Sarah opened her eyes for the second time to find herself in the company of three familiar faces, lit by a small oil lamp lying on the ground beside her. "Hoggle? Ludo? Sir Didymus?" she questioned groggily.

"Sawah back!" Ludo cooed excitedly, sitting her up and hugging his long lost 'fwend'. Sarah smiled into Ludo's furry arms, hugging him back.

"Alright, ya big baby, let her breath for a minute why don't ya?" Hoggle commanded from her left side. Obeying solemnly, Sarah rubbed his chin comfortingly to let him know it was alright before turning to give Hoggle a hug.

"Oh Hoggle, it's so good to see you! I thought Goliath had done something terrible to you all."

Hoggle blushed as much as a small, wrinkled dwarf man could, but returned his friends warm hug. "Ah, that riff raff? He couldn't do nothin to us! We all's protected by the King's magic, so he couldn't do nothin but put us here." He motioned around them towards the dank and empty oubliette. It looked almost exactly like the one Sarah had fallen into her first time in the Labyrinth.

"Do I not get a greeting as well, My Lady?" a timidly noble voice asked from her right side.

Sarah turned to look at the noble Sir Didymus, unchanged save for the dirtier state of his vest and the absence of Ambrosyius, his noble steed. "Of course Sir Didymus, I'm sorry." she apologized, pulling him gently into her arms. "It's wonderful to see you too. But, where's Ambrosyius?" she asked setting him down.

He looked solemnly down at the floor, as did the others, and removed his hat respectfully. "I fear that Ambrosyius has been turned to the side of the enemy, My Lady, for the King's magic failed to protect him as it did us from Goliath's terrible curse." he whimpered.

Sarah rubbed the little dog's head comfortingly. "Don't worry, Sir Didymus, we'll get him back. We'll get everyone back."

"But how Sarah? Anyone who dared to go against Goliath was either killed or sent to an oubliette! That rat had us locked up here, and the way out that we took on yer first visit is gone!" Hoggle stated.

"So the only other way out is the way I came in, huh?"

The others nodded dejectedly, and Sarah sighed, long and solemn. "There has to be someway out of here..." she murmured to herself, standing to walk around with the little lantern and look around the damp walls.

"Well, ya wouldn't be down here with us, Sarah, if ya hadn't gone and said what ya said." Hoggle huffed.

"You heard me?" Sarah asked, glancing at him peripherally.

"Course I did, you were standin right above us after all. And what'd you have to go and say a thing like that for? You shoulda known better." He nagged at her.

"I know Hoggle, I know." She conceded, giggling quietly at the familiarity.

"Uh, Sarah?" Hoggle piped up again after a short silence.

"Yea, Hoggle?" she replied, still looking around the walls.

"How'd ya do that earlier anyway?"

"Do what?" she inquired, looking at him. He held a strange awed look on his face.

"Earlier, when ya floated down here. How'd ya do that?"

Now Sarah gave him her full focus, tilting her head to the side quizzically. "What do you mean? I floated down here?"

"Well, yes my Lady. You fell into the trap, from what we could see from here below, falling ever so fast, and then a red light surrounded you and you floated the rest of the way down here, unconscious." Sir Didymus piped in from beside Hoggle.

"Sawah float down." Ludo confirmed.

Sarah was confused. 'How could I have floated down? I was with Jareth...' she thought to herself. She suddenly remembered the crystal and reached into her pocket. To her relief, it was still there.

"Maybe the King can tell us something..." she murmured, pulling the crystal from her pocket. The others gasped, gathering around her.

"Jaweth?" Ludo asked.

"You have seen the King, My Lady?" Sir Didymus inquired.

"Briefly, while I was unconscious it seems. He gave this to me to tell me something important." she replied.

"Well! What're ya waitin for, Sarah! Find out what he wants ta tell ya!" Hoggle pleaded excitedly.

Sarah took a deep breath, holding the crystal on her fingertips as Jareth would. "Play Jareth's message, please." The crystal glowed, its insides swirling with fog before the familiar face of Jareth, the King of the Goblins, appeared in the glass.

_"Hello, Sarah. Nice to see you again."_ he greeted her from within the crystal, the familiar arrogant smirk on his face.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

_"I hope you have been well in all the time we have spent apart, and all the time you have spent away from the Underground. Congratulations on your books by the way, I hear they have sold well."_ he added with a coy smile.

'Heard my butt, you've probably been spying on me through your crystals.' she thought in reply.

_"It's a pity you must see it in this state, and under these circumstances, but this is the way it must be."_ his image continued, a solemn tone entering into his voice. He spun the crystal round in his hand to show her the room he was trapped within. _"If you are watching this message, you have undoubtedly been here and have already seen my prison cell, as it were. Not as dank or damp as my oubliettes, but quite a lot more dark and lonely. I pity anyone else who has ever been trapped within confines such as this." _Turning the crystal back to face him, Jareth sat in the lone chair Sarah had seen in the room, crossing one leg over the other lazily as he often did, with the hand holding the crystal extended in front of him. _"But as to the matter at hand, I do not doubt that you have questions. Your first is more than likely to be about the medallion." _

_'_Well, he's right on that count.' Sarah thought to herself.

_"The medallion holds power, as you are well aware, I'm sure. It holds the power of the Labyrinth and the very Underground within it, all the power I hold as King of this land. Its power is what protects me from the death Goliath would not doubt enjoy bestowing upon me, and what protects your friends, Ludo, Sir Didymus, and Hoghead..."_

"It's Hoggle!" Hoggle yelled at the image. Sarah giggled at the familiar banter.

_"Yes, yes, Hoggle, I apologize, as I'm sure you are watching this message as well, if Sarah has fallen into the correct oubliette."_ Jareth smirked arrogantly at the surprised group's face. _"I gave you the medallion as my last gift to you because Fate ordained it so. All of this was prophesized in our world, long ago; my defeat by one who was once called friend, the kingdom falling into their hands, and the only one who would be capable of saving the Underground would be a human from Aboveground. You are the one Sarah; the only one who can save us all."_

Sarah's head reeled at his words. 'Me? But why? Why is it me? What's so special about me?'

_"You are no doubt wondering why you, why this burden was bestowed upon you, and why are you so special."_

'Wonderful, now he's a mind reader.' She thought sarcastically.

"_I have told you before Sarah, my gifts are not for ordinary girls, and you are no ordinary girl, or woman, I should say."_ he smirked approvingly. _"You are the only one ever to defeat me and solve the Labyrinth. In all the centuries I've been alive, and they are numerous, you are the purest heart I have ever seen, and you alone have not meant your wish and dared to fight to make right your mistake. For that reason, and others that you will no doubt learn of..."_ he spoke cryptically _"...My medallion chose you. I fear it is somewhat cruel of me to burden you with such a task out of nowhere, but I do believe in you Sarah. I have always believed in you."_

A warm fluttery feeling filled Sarah's heart at the words he had used before she had faded from the prison and the smile of pure pride he gave her through the glass. Cruel or not, that look made her forgive him almost immediately.

The crystal sighed with his voice, zooming in on his face but staring off in another direction at something unseen. _"You may be wondering about Goliath as well."_ he stated despondently. He paused, his face drawn into a pained look. Sarah's heart ached to make the smile from before return. _"Goliath...I am ashamed to say that he used to be a friend of mine. The very best."_ he laughed dryly, humorously. _"Something happened, long ago in our world, that changed him forever. Gave him a power he was never meant to have. A power no one, human or Fae, was ever meant to have. He would not be persuaded to give it up in the end, not even by me, and...well..."_ he paused again, trying to keep away the anger that was creeping into his sultry voice. _"To make a long story short,"_ he began again _"he was banished by our people. And now he is back to take my kingdom from me, no doubt as revenge for the past. And the only way he can do so is by destroying the medallion and taking the power within that protects me...and then destroying me."_ Sarah gasped at the reality of the situation. A faint voice could be heard on Jareth's side of the image, what sounded like Goliath. Jareth's eyes suddenly darkened, smoldering savagely at whatever he had been looking at for the past few minutes. A crash of glass echoed from the crystal and tiny shining shards floated into the crystal's view, bouncing gently off Jareth's lidded eyes.

'He must have been looking at Goliath in another crystal.' Sarah thought to herself. She couldn't help noticing how beautifully long his lashes were...'Whoa, your head's in the clouds again, Sarah. Pull them out again, please.' she commanded her mind.

The crystal zoomed out once again from his face, his eyes turned toward her once more, a piercing, knowing gaze, as though he were seeing her through the crystal as clearly as she was seeing him. _"You are partially right in your fears of going this alone, Sarah. You can solve the Labyrinth he has re-ordered on your own, as I told you. It is Goliath himself you cannot defeat alone."_ he continued.

'Wait a minute. I said that while I was with him, but he said he recorded this before I came. So how...?"

_"Do not look so puzzled Sarah. I may have relinquished you my medallion, but I am never utterly powerless, you know."_ The signature grin of arrogance graced his lips. Sarah rolled her eyes at the image in a 'I should have known' manner, causing the image to grin wider, as if he were really seeing her.

_"I can help you defeat him."_ he continued on. _"But to do so, you must find where I am and release me. That part will be tricky, and you will not understand it now if I tell you how. So for now, I will help you to escape from the oubliette you have so characteristically fallen into." _She gave him a pointed look at that comment. _"You're friends, however, will have to remain where they are, for the medallion at this moment has enough power to transport you alone. But fear not, precious thing."_ Sarah's heart twinged noticeably at the familiar nickname from his song. _"If they believe in you as I do, they know that their imprisonment will not be for much longer."_ he smiled reassuringly. Sarah looked around at her friends as they nodded in agreement, reassuring her with their own smiles.

_"To escape,"_ Jareth continued inside the glass _"take the medallion in your hands and wish on it. The wish must be worded well for it to work, so be careful what you say, or you may very well end up trapped in a wall somewhere. I found out the hard way when I was first learning, and believe me when I say that it is rather difficult to remove yourself from within a wall." _Sarah couldn't tell from his face if he was being serious or not, so she mentally noted to take heed of his warning, just in case_. "Sarah..."_ he pulled the crystal closer to his face. _"Be careful. I am no longer sure of what Goliath is capable of. I wish that you had not made that martyr like bargain with him, for it'll be all the more painful for me if our endeavors are unsuccessful. I could not bear it if anything were to happen to you..."_ His eyes were sincere in his worries, so piercing that Sarah had to look down to keep her heart from pounding out of her chest.

_"Look at me, Sarah."_ Sarah looked up, taken aback by the command from the supposed "recording". _"I would rather have you alive than haunting me, woman."_ He smirked. "_So take care, dearest one. Until we meet again."_ The handsomest smile, out of all the unfamiliar Jareth smiles he had given her, graced his lips in departure as his image faded and the crystal popped.

Sarah sat in a daze, his words echoing against her rapturously beating heart. 'Oh for God's sake Sarah, so what?' her rational mind butted in. 'He called you dearest one. He's obviously more English than an English muffin with that accent, so I bet all men in England talk like that.' she tried to convince herself. But her heart, still aching mercilessly, knew there was something there, in his eyes, in his words, and in that last kind smile, the likes of which no one had ever seen from him before. It was a good few minutes before Sarah heard her name being called.

"Sarah? Are ya alright?" Hoggle asked, his gently blue eyes looking over her worriedly.

"Sorry, yes, I'm alright Hoggle. Just thinking." she replied, squeezing the hand he had placed on her shoulder.

"But there is no time for that now, My Lady." Sir Didymus piped up. "You must hurry if you're to reach the center of the Labyrinth in time."

"Yes, your right Sir Didymus, thank you." Sarah concurred. Ludo gave her a hand up from the floor as she looked at him and the others solemnly. "I promise I'll get you out of here as soon as I can."

"Here, Sarah. You'll need this to help ya through." Hoggle handed her one of his trinkets from the familiar bag of jewels he always kept at his side.

"What is it?" she asked of the strange but beautiful looking gold ring, with a green eye-shaped jewel.

"It's a magic ring called Dragon Eye. It's suppose'ta help the wearer see things fer what they really are. It'll help ya see through any o' them new traps that tyrant's been settin about the Labyrinth." Hoggle blushed and stammered as Sarah swept him up into a grateful hug, making sure not to kiss him, should the former King still have power enough to remove him to the Bog of Eternal Stench; something Goliath hadn't needed to change, considering how terribly grotesque it was already.

"Sawah come back?" Ludo asked with sad eyes, in his childlike way.

"Of course I will, Ludo. I'd never leave you guys behind. You're my friends." She assured him, stroking his long dog like ears to get him to smile.

"We know you'll be back Sarah. But ya must hurry now. Go beat that rat who calls himself our new King." Hoggle cheered her on.

Sarah smiled at him and Ludo and Sir Didymus. She hadn't seen them in many years, save for in her children's books, but she couldn't imagine never seeing them again now that she'd found them once more. And for that reason, if nothing else, she knew she had to find Jareth and defeat Goliath. "Thank you. All of you." she echoed familiar words with a smile. Taking hold of the familiar medallion pendant, Sarah made her wish.

"I wish that I was _at_ the entrance to the Hedge Maze that's in the Labyrinth, right now!" And with a flash of silver light from the Infinity symbol, Sarah disappeared from Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymus' sight, transported to her specified destination.

***Ok, not too much action in these last too chapters, but some things have now been explained. And Jareth's being rather cryptic on the subject of freeing him and this prophecy thing, what's that about?

Jareth: You're the writer of this story, why are you asking me?

I didn't ask you, it was an ambiguous question. And I may be the writer but you sure as hell keep adding two bits where I didn't want them.

Jareth: *smirks* Well someone has to to liven things up a bit.

Whatever, Goblin King. Anyway, I hope you all like it, I promise promise PROMISE to put at LEAST one more chapter up by the end of this week, and I repeat, CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND! *points incessantly to the review button* ^_^ See ya!***


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Goliath, drinking heavily from a golden goblet the third bottle of wine he had taken from Jareth's stores, sat lazily on Jareth's throne, his black cape strewn beneath him, his feet and free hand being pampered and fawned over by Fae maids-turned-mindless love-sick Fae concubines he had acquired during his overtaking of the Kingdom. He laughed mercilessly at the weary Goblins who stood about mindlessly cleaning the uncharacteristically clean chamber of the throne room. The room, once gray and brown stone with structural ledges all around the walls for the Goblins to sit and hang off of, the large brown 13 hour grandfather clock in one corner, and a large pit in the center, was now even all the way around, square (quite literally), white washed (to match EVERYTHING else), and clean. It had barely ever been cleaned under Jareth's rule—save for the few times he received _invited_ guests—but once Goliath had taken over, his sadistic mind caused him to have his new slaves clean it endlessly, along with the rest of the Goblin City. The 13 hour clock still sat in its place in the corner, the only thing (other than the Bog of Eternal Stench) that Goliath had left alone; it now pointed to the ninth hour of the 13 hours.

"Ahh, it is to be a good day now, ladies. I will soon have the medallion in my grasp, and Jareth's kingdom will be mine, as it always should have been." he grinned through his drunken happiness. 'Centuries of banishment to the darkness, centuries of honing my dark powers, centuries of waiting for the prophecy to be fulfilled, and I'm finally going to see the fruition of my exile. I will soon rule this kingdom, and all the Underground, and with a little luck I will rule so much more. You will finally see, Jareth, you and those Fae fools who dared to banish me away. As the old saying goes, revenge is a dish best served cold, and mine is several centuries in the ice box. Though, I regret to have lost the beautiful heroine in this. She would've made a glorious concubine on my arm. Maybe even a Queen...' he thought to himself. His thoughts were broken into by one of the women, the one on his free arm, who tugged at his sleeve and smiled seductively up at him with glazed eyes. He pulled her to him, roughly kissing her soft lips, sliding his greedy, tipsy hands over the slender body he had so triumphantly "celebrated" with over an hour ago. The other two women, who had been at his feet, joined their friend in pleasing "His Majesty". But before he could remedy the situation that was growing in his pants, a voice sounded from a nearby mirror he had situated on the wall opposite the throne when he had arrived.

"Sire, a word Sire." the olden voice called to its master.

"What the hell is it, Gaston? I'm busy." he snidely asked the talking mirror, attention still focused on his concubines.

"Sire, not all is as it seems. An image has come, you must see Sire!" the voice called Gaston begged urgently.

Goliath sighed heavily, annoyance peaking, but acquiesced and stood from the throne, walking to the mirror. An image he couldn't make out at first shimmered into the mirror's reflection. Rubbing his hazed, alcohol inhibited eyes, Goliath looked again. In the image stood Sarah, outside of the Hedge Maze and completely unharmed.

"The girl! She lives Sire!"

Goliath's eyes turned an angry bloodshot red. "WHAT!!??" he bellowed. Throwing down his goblet and smashing it with his foot, he screamed at the concubines to leave, which they did quickly at the tone in his voice. He was enraged, utterly, and to stay near him in that state was to ask for death. Goliath stared angrily at Sarah's image, debating with himself whether or not to smash the ancient mirror in his rage. "It cannot be! How, HOW could she have escaped the oubliette?? There is no..." He stopped as the image shifted slightly to her side, showing a glint of gold and silver against her chest. "The medallion...." he whispered audibly.

Briskly, he left the throne room, his dark black cloak billowing roughly behind him. Nearly running, he went up the spiral stairs that would have normally led to the Escher room, but under new management now led to a long hall of white-doored rooms, each one holding different symbols on the fronts. Goliath made his way to the third door down, one with a symbol of black lightning on the front. Opening it, he entered his chambers. The room he had made for himself was dark, the way he truly liked it, candles reflecting off the surfaces of dozens of mirrors the only light, surrounding a low but comfortably large bed with red sheets and black comforters. There were no chairs in the room, no tables, no desks. Only a small fireplace behind the bed, with a small crystal sitting on it, glowing a brilliantly dark purple. It was to the mantle and the crystal Goliath made a beeline. Picking up the crystal, he shook it violently. "Jareth! You in there, you fool of a Fae? I know you had something to do with this! Tell me!" he yelled at the orb, shaking it harder with every word. Once he was done, he let the dark purple dust settle inside the orb. A calm postured Jareth stared up at him with a warning glint of menace in his eyes, steadily unfettered by all the shaking in his sturdy chair.

"Well well. If it isn't you. I'm guessing Sarah made it out alright, from the look on your face. But what's this? I see another look behind that one. One of fear, and one of drunkenness. Oh old friend, you should know better than to count your chickens before they hatch." he replied haughtily, mocking him.

Goliath ground his teeth in anger, slamming the crystal down onto the floor with all his might. To his utter disdain and annoyance, the crystal did not shatter. He stepped on it several times over, slamming on it with the steel heel of his blackened boots. But no matter what he did, the crystal would not break.

"Curse you, Jareth!" he barked, picking up the unscathed prison. "Do not entertain hope yet, old friend. She may have escaped the oubliette, but she has 9 hours left in which to reach this place, and she isn't even halfway yet. Not to mention the many other traps I have laid out for her inside your precious Labyrinth! To think, the very thing that chose her for you will be the very thing that destroys her!" he cackled darkly "And once it does, and I have that medallion..."he stopped, smiling coolly, in a way that unnerved even Jareth "...I will kill you. Old friend." And with that, he replaced the crystal on the top of the fireplace mantel and exited the room.

In the darkness of the room, Jareth scowled, glaring at the door Goliath had disappeared through. "Not if I can help it." he murmured crossly before going to work on his next plan to help Sarah.

**Author's Note:** It's a short Chapter, I know, but it was necessary to get an idea of what's in Goliath's greasy head and add a little more suspense. Plus, I'm working on Chapter 9, which I plan to make a long Chapter, so it will make up for this one. Updating is easier though when I have some constructive criticism to go on, so REVIEW PEOPLE! Please? Pretty please? I'll get the next Chapter up faster if you doooo *smiles sweetly* Oh come on, humor me and review. At LEAST tell me if it's good or not, or if there's anything I missed that I might need to change! WORK WITH ME PEOPLE!

Jareth: How can anyone work with you when you talk so damned much? Bloody Hell, woman.

*Glares* I'm sorry, did you have something you wanted to share with the class? *hovers finger over backspace button*

Jareth: REVIEW DAMN IT! Carry on...*slinks away*

Yea, I thought so. ANYWAY, I'm out. LATER!


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: **YAY! People commented more, that makes me happy. Yea, it doesn't take much to make me happy lol. Thank you for the comments though, and for one of you who commented on Goliath, yes I know, he not the most terrifying villain; he has everyone clean everything; a male Stepford Wife if you will. But just remember, not everything is as it seems in the Underground. ***ominous note*** lol You'll seee. Anyway, here's the latest chapter, it's much longer than the rest since I took so long to get it up, so enjoy and HAVE AT IT!

**Chapter 9**

Sarah, very carefully, thin-ice-walked her way through the Hedge Maze, listening intently to the sounds around her, grateful for Hoggle's ring. She had realized its helpfulness when she almost stepped into the first trap of the Maze. Not far from the oubliette she had fallen into, a pit of mirror shards had been placed and hidden beneath the grass. Had it not been for a fiery vibration from the ring that startled her, just as her toe touched the trap and sprung it open, Sarah would have been sliced and diced at the bottom of the ditch. So for the rest of the way it had literally led her, like a ghostly grip by the hand, around several other trapdoors in the maze, as well as a giant guard that looked vaguely like a cross between a Goblin and a chicken, and a few of the Goblin guards she had encountered the last time, with the toothy heads-on-javelin sticks as weapons. The amount of traps indicated Goliath's fervent desire for her failure, but despite, she seemed to be making good progress. But she reminded herself (for the fifth time that day) that nothing in the Labyrinth was ever as it seemed, and hoped that she really was making some progress.

The same had pertained to her own life, she thought to herself, having momentary flashbacks. She thought of how her stepmother, before the Labyrinth, had seemed like such an evil and terrible woman, stealing the affections of her father from her and bringing in a new child to replace her, when in truth she had been a better mother to her than her real mother had ever been. She thought of how Toby had seemed to be a spoiled child, doted on more than she by her own father, when he was really the sweet kid who had doted on her and found his way into her heart. She thought about Jareth, the Goblin King, and how he had at one time seemed to be a charismatic villain to match her determined heroine side, stealing children just to get some kicks, when in reality he was much more complicated than that. And much more kind, and handsome, and sexy, and… "WHOA Sarah, down girl. Get a grip.' She detoured her thoughts.

Finally, she thought of herself; how she once seemed to be a quiet teenage girl, immersing herself in fantasy and theatre to get away from reality's unfair trials, and wanting nothing more in life than to follow in her cold actress mother's footsteps. After her time in the Labyrinth, she realized, in reality, life wasn't fair, but that's just the way it was, and the only way to make it better was to make the best of it. Most importantly, she found that there was more power and potential in her than she ever knew herself; she really was no ordinary girl.

Continuing her tenuous walk, she came to the large vase that she and Hoggle had climbed out of during her first visit; it was turned upside down and cemented to the stone pedestal it was on, in an attempt to thwart any escape from the oubliettes below. On its right side stood the small stone seat the Wise-Man had been seated upon, with his talking hat reprimanding him all the while. The seat was there, but it was Wise-Man-less. Sarah scanned the area, but saw no sign of him. She hoped the crazed new King hadn't done anything to him. Then she listened to her surroundings, realizing that it was just a little too quiet. Looking down at the ring Hoggle had given her, the stone shined a brilliant green...of warning.

'I don't like this.' she thought to herself, just as the vase beside her rumbled.

Stepping away, she watched the vase shake violently, as though whomever or whatever was underneath intended to make a blast of an entrance. Sarah decided not to be the blonde white chick in a horror movie, waiting for its grand opening, and made a quick run for it. Swerving around corners, led by the ring as it pulled her along by the hand around traps and tricks laid out in every turn, Sarah's heart jumped in fright when she heard a loud crash come from behind her, followed by large galloping noises that only got louder as she went. Whatever had been beneath the vase was out now...and Sarah was its target.

Sarah ran in haste, as fast as her legs would take her around the winding and deceptively genteel rosy walls of hedges, too frightened to look back at what it was that was chasing her. With the ring's help and her quick wits, she had made it past all the traps in that little harem of space, and was now almost to where the woods of the Fieries would be. But a large thud shook the Earth, pitching her forward across the ground to land right at the edge of a tall stone cliff, where the dreary woods should have been. Below, Sarah could see a field of deceptively beautiful and fragrant flowers; flowers she would have been tempted to climb down the cliff for, due to their overly enticing aroma, had the Dragon Eye ring not hissed at her, showing her in a flash image behind her eyes the true nature of the field: sharp splintering rocks beneath the petals that would slice through her all too quickly on landing. Sarah gulped at the sight, before a thud of a footstep drew her attention back to her previous problem. Skittering up from the ground, Sarah stood at the precipice, face to face with a black dog of large proportions. Its fur was short and black as the darkest night sky, and its ears were contrastingly white, but its eyes were blood hunting red, its muzzle scrunched up in snarl, its large pointed teeth bared, and its musty skeleton breath pulling her scent into its mouth. Though it looked like a backwards version of one of the fabled "Hounds of the Hills" from Faery-lore, a Sherlock Holmes story Sarah had once read fit better to describe the beast; '"The Hound of Baskervilles", a hound of Hell' she thought to herself. The creature growled darkly, its blackened fur dotted with small blood-red petals from the maze that made it look more menacing than appealing. Sarah wanted to back away, wanted desperately to run, but knew that the last step behind her was a doozy. Grasping the medallion, she felt it warm in her hands, but it did nothing otherwise. She was scared shitless by this thing, and no matter how quickly or how hard she thought, she couldn't figure a way out of the situation. The creature growled again, taking a step closer. Sarah gasped, eyes terror-stricken, as it lunged at her. 'Help me! Please!' she cried within her mind, clutching the medallion for dear life.

Suddenly, a profound flash of golden light brightened the area, blinding the dog, and it lunged straight over the cliff to the spiked rhododendrons below. Sarah brought her hands down, her hands still glowing lightly yellow as the bout of power faded away. The medallion, which had become an innate silver during the ordeal, hummed soothingly as its own power simmered down. 'Did it come from the medallion? Did it hear me call for help, and answer?' Sarah asked of the power that had flown from her hands to blind the mad dog. But she felt something more than the Labyrinth's magick in her hands; she could feel her own, coursing through her veins. The Labyrinth's true magick had indeed saved her from death, but it was her own magick, her own will that had called to it. The will of no ordinary girl.

* * *

Goliath paced back and forth across the throne room like an angry lion in a cage. Sarah was getting closer, and somehow avoiding all of his traps, much to his displeasure. Despite all of his best efforts, she had found help against his obstacles, and it was beginning to make him nervous.

"She's making impressive time of it. This can't be. I set all those traps and she hasn't fallen into one except that damned oubliette Jareth helped her out of! And the Hell-Hound was so easily defeated. No…no I will not let this be. I must do something, or Jareth will…" A slow and sly smile lit across his face and his pacing slowed. "Jareth. Of course. It is for Jareth and his Kingdom that she fights. But what if she were to see the real Jareth, the Jareth I know? What if she were to see the man who had me banished and exiled? What would she think of him then? Would she still fight for him? Let's find out, shall we child?" Goliath grinned at his cruel ideas, pulling his cape round his body like a wanna-be-Dracula and disappearing from the throne room in a cloud of white smoke.

* * *

Walking away from the edge of the precipice, Sarah discovered another way out of the Hedge Maze barely ten feet from where the dog had cornered her.

'Well THAT would've been helpful earlier.' She thought ungraciously to herself. Crossing through the opening, she found herself in a new part of the Labyrinth she had never been in before. Contrary to the perkiness and neatness of all the other parts of the Labyrinth she had been in so far, this part was cold, dreary, and covered in layers and layers of fog. The air was heavy with the scent of cold musty fog. Bugs buzzed unseen amidst the layers, frogs and toads croaked ominously within the waters, and the trees, thickly grown and darkening the area more, whispered their dirty little secrets to each other, in a language unknown and tabooed by humanity. Ahead, all she could see was swampy water with patches of land here and there to step on. Her ring glowed insistently, ready to take on their next challenge.

'Well I'm glad someone's ready for this.' Sarah thought as she stared at the ring, preparing herself for the next level of her journey. But before she could take a step into the dark swamps, a large black raven came out of nowhere and flew at Sarah's head. She swung her arms at it, keeping her balance as she tried to knock it away, covering her head, remembering a similar time… Finally, the bird moved away, disappearing inside a cloud of white smoke. When the smoke cleared, Sarah stood before a smug smiling Goliath, whose messily ruffled hair from combing nervous fingers through it betrayed his earlier state.

"Lovely." Sarah greeted sarcastically. Her arms folded angrily across her chest, the medallion hanging over them, blaring red at the man.

"My my. Look at you child. It seems I may have underestimated you after all."

"What do you want, Goliath? Have more traps you want to spring in person? More monsters you want to fling my way up close?"

"On the contrary, Sarah, I wish to help you on your way."

Now Sarah looked at him as though he had just sprouted a third eye. "Help me? You? Okay, now I really know you're up to something. Why the hell would you want to help the person trying to bring you down?"

"I only wish to help you see just what it is you're fighting for. Decide if it's truly worth it." he answered, moving closer to her with an outstretched hand. In it appeared a small circular compact mirror that looked like it was made of crystal. Skillfully, he flung it up like a coin, letting it land and spin on his index finger like a basketball. "I've brought you a gift of sorts. Look upon it if you wish. It will show you the truth of certain things you do not know." He discus-threw the mirror at Sarah, making her flinch, but instead of hitting her, it floated before her, waiting for her to touch it.

Sarah looked it over, intrigued, but cautious. "What will it do to me? How do I know it won't imprison me, or make me forget what I'm here for? You Fae are known for doing that." she asked suspiciously, recalling a certain peachy trick.

"You don't. But I can assure you that it is not my intention to do either one. Only to show you the truth." He spoke ominously.

Sarah looked at the floating mirror once again, glittering with drops of moisture from the fog within the swampland. It didn't look ominous or menacing. If Sarah hadn't known better, she would have thought it to be nothing more than a pretty, antique hand mirror with a crystalline reflection. IF she hadn't known better.

Goliath could see the wheels turning in the girl's brain against his favor. She had been through too many of his traps to immediately allow herself to trust anything within the intricate maze. 'She's gotten smarter then.' He thought disdainfully.

"What if I give you an extra hour on the clock and swear upon the Labyrinth's magic that the mirror will not hinder or deter your course? An oath upon the Labyrinth is an oath I can't break, even if I wanted to." Goliath bargained with her.

Sarah knew better than to believe he had no ulterior motive in this, but she also knew that she could use an extra hour of time. "You'll start the extra hour AFTER I see what's in the mirror?"

"If that is what you wish, and if you see what the mirror has to tell you in all of its entirety. Not a minute before it is finished are you to look away." He stretched forth his hand to seal the deal.

Sarah felt almost as though she were making a bargain with the devil, but she knew she had little choice in the matter. "Deal." She shook his large callous hand disdainfully. No sooner had her hand touched his than the small mirror grew into a full length one and flung itself at her, swallowing her whole within its crystalline depths. Goliath watched as Sarah fell "down the rabbit hole", into memories burned within his own mind. "Go Sarah. See for yourself the true nature of your King of Goblins."

* * *

Flung forward, backward, and every which way there was, Sarah covered her head reflexively, pulling herself into a little ball, thrown against walls, unsure of her destination and fearful of her fate. And just as suddenly as all this began, she stopped and was standing, perfectly in tact, in a strange room she did not recognize. Behind her was a large four poster canopy bed with navy blue linen comforters and white silken pillows. Before her, a man with short dark hair and elegantly long pointed ears was buttoning a red shirt and flinging a pale silk vest on hurriedly, his back turned to her.

_Damn, he's going to chew me out for being late._

The man spoke, looking up into the vanity mirror he was sitting in front of. It was his voice and the eyes of the face in the mirror—the same dark sea-storm blue eyes—that brought Sarah to realization. 'Goliath!' she tried to say, but her voice was mute. She stood behind him, clearly visible in the mirror, but he could not see her. She stood as only a spectator in two men's past.

_There. Now here's to hoping this wasn't all for nothing again._

The man stood, making a few last minute adjustments to his much brighter attire. He looked a lot younger, a lot kinder, and a lot less greasy; his eyes were gentler, more natural, and the markings around them were blue instead of black. He had to be somewhere in his early twenties, or at least that's where his aging must have stopped, since Fae can live forever if allowed to. This man was a man of good character, with no evil deeds clear in his mind. Walking out the door into the depths of an unknown but familiar castle, Sarah followed, though her feet stood still. Three left turns, a right turn, and two downward staircases later, Goliath had made his way to the throne room, where a friend, whose presence made the castle all too familiar again, awaited. His best friend, and the man he was serving as best man for, stood looking blankly out of the familiar throne room window. His platinum blonde hair was short like Goliath's and neatly combed for once, but spikes adorned the front edges in protest of the new, or rather old look.

_Prince Jareth, I apologize for my untimely entrance. _

Goliath bowed low, keeping his eyes upon the Fae with a searching look.

_You're late. _

The young prince voiced chidingly, with a sing-song tone to it. He had a more innocent, youthly naïve handsomeness to him, in Sarah's eyes; still wearing his signature poet shirt but with a more "flamboyant" color of twilight purple, and his signature leggings, though these were leather and fit tighter than she'd ever seen them, if that were even possible. His face was a picture of chainless youth; the signs of exhaustion she saw prevalent upon him forward in her time were non-existent in the past; his mismatched eyes with their regal dressings of gold and purple were aglow with agelessness.

_Yes, I know, and I have already apologized for it._

_Well maybe, I don't wish to accept such a sad-excuse for an apology._

The prince replied haughtily, turning to face the man with crossed arms. Goliath, still bowing before him, gave him a knowing look that Jareth couldn't help but chuckle at.

_Rise my friend, you know your bows and kowtows are no good here._

He grinned, taking Goliath's hand and pulling him up into a warm hug of greeting, which Goliath willingly returned.

_Good morning to you too my friend. _

Goliath chuckled, releasing Jareth to look him over. A look of disdain and exasperation overcame his face at the once-over.

_Jareth, why are you not in your wedding garments? Is it not your wedding day today?_

The words "wedding day" brought a pang to Sarah's heart. She had never thought of the possibility of the great Goblin King being married.

_Well, it would be, if I were getting married._

Jareth replied, walking back towards the window. Goliath followed. Sarah leaned against the throne in relief.

_Should I even ask what happened this time Did she have an issue with marrying you in the Castle Beyond the Goblin City instead of Tuatha De Danaan Castle, or was it you who had the issue? _

Goliath leaned an elbow on the windowsill, his hand a chin rest for the moment, looking up at his friend expectantly.

_Let's just say I recently realized that she's not my type._

_None are, according to your record. This is the fifth time I've had to come be your best man for a marriage you've given up on, and the third time you've given up on it on the very day of your wedding! Does the bride even know yet?_

_Yes, she does. I'm surprised you didn't catch her on the stairs, storming angrily down to my parents to tell them off. _

Jareth smirked in amusement at the scene she would make to his parents, and how many minutes it would take for them to turn her into a toad for it. Goliath was not amused though.

_You're parents will not be pleased in the least bit. What are you looking for my friend? Every Fae woman in all of Faery would give anything to be the wife of the Prince of Faery, son to King Oberon and Queen Titania! Yet you turn them all down, try at false fast weddings, that you never follow through with, to trick yourself into marrying, and stay your head in the Aboveground. You are nearly three hundred years old, my friend, the women will not be lining up for you forever! I fear the mortal women amuse you more than Fae women ever have._

_Maybe, Goliath. Maybe._

Jareth leaned dejectedly down to his best friend's level. Goliath gave him another knowing look.

_We have been friends for far too long. I know you, and I know there is more to this than you are letting on. Tell me Jareth._

Jareth sighed, more downtrodden than Sarah had ever seen him. His charisma was on the backburner, his sarcasm on a shelf, and all that was left was honesty.

_I have fallen in love Goliath._

_…With a mortal?_

_With all mortals. I stay my head up there because…the mortals in the Aboveground, they intrigue me more than my own people. Does that sound foolish? They are full of such stupidity at times, such rage and senseless emotions, senseless actions. But their redeeming qualities, their bravery, their form of love, all of that…it intrigues me to the point where I have fallen in love with it. With them. At this rate, you could be right, I could end up falling for a mortal woman. But if I take the throne now, marry a Fae princess or Lady, and live "happily ever after" in my castle, I'll lose that. You and I and my parents are the only Fae who can tolerate the mortal realm, me most of all, so whoever I take from here as a wife will keep me from doing what I want. I can't marry for that reason, because I love no Fae woman more than I love the mortals in the Aboveground, and my freedom to look upon them._

Goliath had suspected this was the reason for his friend's unsatiated appetite, and nodded his understanding. Looking out the window, he said the only thing he could think to say in reply:

_No, you're parents will not be pleased one bit._

The two burst out into raucous laughter at this, squeezing the others arm in an attempt to calm each other down. A side of the Fae prince Sarah had never seen, shared by a man Sarah had never known.

Another scene flew into place before Sarah could even acknowledge the change. Jareth and Goliath walked lazily about the Labyrinth's Hedge Maze, talking of political affairs and the new job as Goblin King Jareth had been given that suited his interests well. The two were now older, though how much older could not be told because their features, save for the longer state of their hair, were much the same as before. Goliath's was now long enough to pull back into a small gentleman's tail at the nape of his neck, while Jareth's was still short-ish but had begun to acquire its signature Goblin King style. As the two spoke, Sarah saw a black cloud, larger and darker than any normal rain-cloud, drift over the two menacingly. Jareth was the first to notice, raising his hand above him and speaking in an ancient form of Gaelic Sarah couldn't recognize, before throwing a concealed crystal into the cloud. But the creature showed no sign of pain and attacked. Jareth stubbornly stood his ground, ready to fight, before he was thrown aside by Goliath. Goliath's body convulsed violently as the dark creature flew into him, permanently renting out his soul. The sky lightened once more, and Goliath lay on the ground, his soul slowly being eaten away. Jareth jumped to his side, pulling open Goliath's shirt to reveal a dark tattoo creeping slowly over his chest across his body. As if to perform a chest compression, Jareth placed his hands over Goliath's chest, flooding his magic into him to form a barrier around his soul. Finally, after several chest compressions, the tattoo was subdued to a small area in the center of Goliath's chest, his friend's pale eyes forming recognition. Jareth squeezed the man's hand, helping him up and walking him back to the castle, all the while whispering incomprehensible words of comfort to Goliath…and to himself.

Other scenes began to flash quickly by Sarah; a scene of Goliath in an infirmary, fighting the darkness within himself, whilst Fae doctors used their magic to help him and Jareth looked on helplessly; another scene of Goliath standing up with Jareth's help and taking a walk; another of Goliath screaming at the darkness to leave him be, clawing mercilessly at his chest before more doctors came in and pulled his arms away; a scene of Goliath in a rose garden, creating an orb of dark power with an eerie smile as Jareth looked on with worry; and one of Jareth insisting Goliath remove the power from inside him with the Fae Elders help, while Goliath vehemently rejected the idea. His eyes, by this point, had gone darker, stormier. His hair was full-on black now, and the markings around his eyes were too. As Jareth's worry and insistence for removal of his power grew, Goliath began to become expert in playing the kind, jovial, perfectionist friend, whose demeanor was perfect and needed no help from anyone. Alone, he was darker than dark, less than kind, and meanly adverse to jovialness, and his dark powers just kept on growing. The tattoo imprinted upon him was the only sign that he was succumbing, and once it began to reach his exposed collar bone, others began to see what Jareth knew; Goliath was disappearing. Jareth began taking up special training to train Goliath and suppress the demon within him, bringing him closer and closer back to his old self. But the darkness still lurked, and the powers still remained and grew, and kept on growing, until his power rivaled that of Jareth's Labyrinth, which next to King Oberon and Queen Titania's power was the greatest power in all of Faery, something Sarah could tell Jareth was noticing in the flashes of Goliath's memory.

A new scene, more than a flash this time, appeared of Goliath walking down a hall in a new castle. Sarah assumed it was the Tuatha De Danaan Castle, due to its grandiose structuring and style. Goliath seemed to be a little more himself that day; his eyes less stormy, and the tattoo wasn't visible above his collar bone in this scene. His hair was longer now and hung loosely about his shoulders. He twirled a small compact mirror on his finger non-chalantly; where Jareth had a thing for crystals, Goliath had a thing for mirrors. As he passed a room, he stopped, hearing the familiar voice of Jareth, along with several others. Sarah came up beside him and listened. Jareth's voice was heard mid-sentence.

_…send him away. Send Goliath away. His power is too great now, so do this. Then he will harm no one. And you'll be free of your fears. And you'll be rid of him..._

Darkness welled behind Goliath's eyes at his best friend's betrayal. The storm returned and the tattoo flared to his neck.

**So…you show your true colors then. My friend.**

His calculated footsteps went unheard by the group inside, the darkness folding in around his soul to stay.

One last scene appeared, of an angry Goliath confronting a confused and angry Jareth. Goliath raged at him, cursing him for his betrayal, not letting Jareth get a word in edgewise. And before Sarah knew it, the two were throwing crystals and mirrors at one another, reciting Gaelic spells and flinging magic after magic after magic. The skies raged overhead with the battle, dark clouds alighting against light ones. Power crackled from the two Fae like lightning. Goliath tried to entrap Jareth inside a giant dark bubble, but the Labyrinth's magic came to Jareth's aid, protecting him from the dark magic and entrapping Goliath within a crystal bubble. Jareth seethed at his former friend, his pride hurt, as Goliath pounded vehemently upon the adherent glass. King Oberon appeared before his son, a look of anger and then pity on his face, as his son handed him the crystal with a darkened face.

_Do with him what you will. I no longer care_. _He is no longer a friend of mine._

That was all Sarah heard him say before transforming into his familiar owl form and flying away, back towards his castle. Oberon looked down at the imprisoned Goliath and said, in a booming voice for all of Faery to hear from wherever they were:

_Goliath, son of Sir Lysander and Lady Gwenyfhr, prince of the Marsh Lands of Elderon, I sentence you to banishment from the Land of Faery, to the realm of the In-Betweens forever more in this crystal, or until your captor, Jareth, prince of the Land of Faery and King of the Goblins, loses his magick to one worthy of the thrones; the loss of his magick will unlock the crystal prison and the prophecy of the fate of the Underground will come to pass. If this happens, none but those involved in it will be allowed to interfere with Fate, not even I or the Queen. Our son will be at the mercy of Fate, and fall to prophecy's plans._

'Does this mean that I started the prophecy, by defeating Jareth? But if so, then what does he mean by "worthy of the thrones"?' Sarah wondered.

* * *

Sarah felt her feet give way to air as the crystal in King Oberon's hand disappeared. Her body fell forward into nothingness, into the rabbit hole and back again, standing once more before the swamp. Goliath was no where to be seen, and the mirror she had appeared from was compact again, and lay shattered on the grass.

"**Two hours have passed on your journey down my memory lane. As I promised, I will give you the extra hour to reach the center of the Labyrinth. That is, if you still wish to go on. After all you've seen of your precious King." **Goliath's voice echoed around her, his lips spitting out the word King in reference to Jareth. Sarah could understand why now too. Jareth, the man she had actually been falling for again since being here, had turned his back on his friend, having him banished when it looked as though his power would be too great. Would he do that to Sarah? Turn on her, his "no-ordinary-girl" when her own newfound power threatened to become greater than his own? Had it already become greater? Would he do away with her once she freed him and gave him back his power? After all, she had beaten him at his own game in the Labyrinth the first time, and she knew the man to be a prideful person.

"**Sarah, I mean no harm to the Labyrinth. I truly don't. If you give me the medallion and allow me to, I will return all of the Goblins and residents of the Goblin City back to normal, and let them choose what they want. And then you can go home, safe and sound where you belong, child." **His voice was sweet, filled with ideas and wishes she was beginning to long for. Home, and the return of her friends. Her friends…they had told her what Goliath was really like, what he had done. She had seen first hand what the darkness had turned him into; a mirror of lies and deceit. Deliberating Jareth's true nature could wait, but Sarah knew if nothing else that she had to continue on to save her friends. And so she answered Goliath by stomping on the glass shards and crushing them further into the ground, before marching head on into the swamp land, led by the Dragon Stone.

* * *

Goliath cursed vehemently under his breath at her blatant refusal of his offer, sensing how close she was to the center with 7 hours left on the clock.

"Damn her foolish pride. Just like him in so many ways. No matter. Now that she's crossed into the Swamps of Despair, my creatures will make short work of her." He prophesized, sitting on his throne anxiously with Gaston in front of him, showing him Sarah's moving figure in the murky swamps.

* * *

Sarah made her way carefully through the swamps, jumping lithely onto each trapless stretch of land her ring directed her to. She made sure to never let her feet hit the water, as she could see random bubbles appear on the surface and didn't want to find out who or what was making them. The swamps gave her an ominous, careful feeling, the kind where you think someone is watching you from somewhere unseen. Which was very possible in the dank, foggy area. Crossing a strip of land over a semi-stable log, Sarah's heel lightly skimmed the surface of the water, just enough to cause a stir. Walking toward the next safe land strip, Sarah stopped dead in her tracks as she heard something ascend from the swamp water behind her and step onto dry land. Turning, she found herself face to face with an image she had seen in her old research of Celtic myths and legends, an image known for drowning unsuspecting humans in its waters; a Kelpie.

"Shit." Sarah cursed below her breath, backing up against the trunk of a nearby tree and sliding not so stealthily behind it. The water horse continued its trek towards her, knowing very well she was trapped. Sarah slammed her eyes shut in fear of the Kelpie's hypnotizing effects, should it come around and look at her.

"Oh someone save me, someone take me away from this awful place." She groaned, grasping the medallion. The great beast took a step closer, its hooves sloshing in the muddy bank. She could hear its breath a mere two feet from her "hiding" place. "Labyrinth, protect me!" she shouted instinctively. The medallion glowed a deep silvery-blue, the light swallowing Sarah's body and covering her with a veil. The Kelpie stepped forward, swinging its head around to her. Sarah suppressed a gasp as she saw confusion alight in its big beady black eyes. It stepped nearer, sniffing the air for her. Its body was long and gray, slick with water, algae, and pond scum, its mane a handful of seaweed leaves. Quietly as possible, and under the veil of the fog, Sarah found a good throwing rock, and threw it a few feet away from her, through some noisy bushes and into the water. The Kelpie heard and saw the movement and fell for the trick, entering slowly back into the water to sneak up on the noisemaker over yonder.

Waiting a few minutes, once she was sure it was gone, Sarah made her way invisibly further into the swamps, before stopping to think on what the hell had just happened. Raising her hand to her face, she realized she could feel it there with her other hand but couldn't see it. Her entire body, clothes, medallion and all, were invisibly veiled. Taking advantage of this bout of good luck, Sarah crossed the banks of the swamp unseen, awaking a few more Kelpies with misplaced feet but avoiding them all due to lack of visibility. Once she had reached the door that led out, the medallion pulled the veil surrounding her back into its infinity symbol, making her visible once more. The medallion thrummed warmly in her hands as she stared down at it in wonder, responding affirmatively to her unspoken question.

* * *

Goliath flung black orbs of energy around the room, denting and putting holes into walls, enraged at Sarah's disappearance and sudden reappearance on the other side of the swamps an hour later. He saw her smile down at the medallion, her talisman of help that would never allow him to touch it as long as the girl lived. He would not let this upstart, this…this…merely mortal girl get the best of him and win their bargain. Not after all he'd been through and seen in the realm of the In-Betweens.

"Fine, girl. If you wish to play with fire, you'll feel the burn of it." He growled out at Sarah's image within his mirror and conjured something dark from his soul. Something that hunted for purity, and of course, Sarah was the purest thing in the Underground. Sending it off, Goliath watched Gaston's mirrored surface anxiously for the moment of her demise.

**A/N:** Okay, just to clarify and take no credit for things that are not mine, the "Hounds of the Hills" are a real myth that I looked up. Apparently, it was believed that Faery folk had these large white dogs with red ears that would hunt faery deers for the faeries. I read this and remembered the Sherlock Holmes story, "The Hound of Baskervilles" by Arthur Conan Doyle, and decided to mix the two to fit my story.

Kelpies are also real mythical beings I looked up. For those who don't know, a Kelpie is a water horse that looks just like a horse, only it has seaweed for a mane and tail, and it lives in water, mostly lakes. When it comes upon a human in its watery territories, it hypnotizes and tricks the human into riding it and drowns them in its lake. I found it to be a good adversary for Sarah to face within the Misty Swamps.

But yea, that's all I wanted to say about that. I hope you all are enjoying it! It took a while to get this chapter up because I wanted to make it extra long for you. It's getting rather interesting, isn't it? And I know you all have been waiting for the imminent Jareth/Sarah pairing moment. Almost there, I promise! Don't hurt me! Haha. Well I can't guarantee that I will write soon, still doing the school thing, but some extra motivation would help some. Leave comments, you know what I always say: "Constructive criticism makes the world go round"! But until next time, LATERZ! ^_^


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N:** Hehe, I got you didn't I? Thought I'd take forever to get the next Chapter up, didn't you? lol I had some free time and this is the result so HAVE AT IT!

**Chapter 10**

Crossing through the opening, she found herself in a new part of the Labyrinth she had never been in before. It was a lush green marsh that looked to be a parallel entity of the Bog of Eternal Stench, and smelled like it too. Birds of every color swooped in and out of the thick trees that stood on the small stretches of land within the marsh, twittering deceivingly as though all was well. But Sarah knew better. Lifting the ring up, she followed its pull and ever-leading green light through the marsh, hopping on all the solid paths of land it deemed safe and avoiding even touching the water with a sole at all costs. What seemed like an hour or so later, Sarah was halfway through. She heard it long before she saw it. Up ahead of her, an ominous black shadow moved on its own, headed straight for her. Moving backwards, she caught herself just as the back of one of her flats touched the marsh water and sizzled.

'Acid?? Are you serious??' she thought incredulously. But there was no time for that. The shadow dove at her, just as she ducked down, missing her by mere inches.

* * *

Jareth watched on the edge of his seat at Sarah's plight. The Hell-Hound of the Hills had been one thing, a cheap conjure trick from the younger days when they had practiced magick together. The Kelpies had been devilishly cold, but not the worse creatures to be summoned. He had gotten nervous when Goliath had sent Sarah into one of his mirrors. But otherwise so far, Jareth had been enjoying the show and how foolish Sarah's accomplishments kept making his old friend look. But never, NEVER before would he have thought that Goliath, evil or not, was capable of conjuring THAT, let alone setting it against a mortal! A Shadow Soul was nothing to be trifled with. He wanted desperately to help, but knew he was cruelly trapped, forced only to watch. Suddenly, an idea clasped his mind! The medallion had reacted to Sarah's anger before, with the situation in her office, and though the medallion was Sarah's now, it was still connected to Jareth and had therefore given him the control he needed to tell the shallow woman off for her. Maybe he could call for control of it himself from his prison. It was a slim chance—especially since, when Sarah had entered the Underground, the connection between her and the Labyrinth's magic had strengthened while his had weakened—but he had to try...

* * *

Sarah dove for the next solid patch of ground, letting the ring pull her along in haste as the shadow pursued her. Hopping at a run, she could still hear the looming enemy behind her, closing in on its prey. It dove for her again, just as her ring pulled her down towards the ground to duck, and missed again. It flew overhead in the trees, scaring off the birds and circling back for her. And just as Sarah was about to continue her run, she found that the solid plot of land she was on moved away from the rest of the plots, into the middle of the marsh's acidic waters. She had nowhere to run.

'How, and I mean HOW do I keep getting into these things?' she despaired, as the shadow dove down for her once more.

_Sarah…_ his ever familiar voice echoed inside her head, beckoning her. Startled, Sarah slipped backwards, almost falling head first into the acidic water behind her, had it not been for the random swirling portal the handy-dandy medallion opened up behind her. Falling in, Sarah's eyes swirled with the blue and white walls of the portal, falling faster and faster until…

"OOMPH!" she grunted, her back making rough contact with the Goblin King, who true to form, caught her gracefully in his arms.

"Nice of you to drop in again, Sarah. We really should stop meeting like this" The smug man grinned down at her.

Sarah's face flushed from her temper and the close proximity she always seemed to find herself in with him. "Didn't I just get rid of you?" she quipped at him, struggling to get out of his arms.

"Oh, but didn't you miss me, dearest?" he teased, setting her down on the floor.

"Keep dreaming Goblin King." She replied wittily, brushing off the marsh leaves from her clothes.

Jareth raised his eyebrows, a little rebuffed by her behavior towards him. "Well hello to you too, my dear. And you're welcome, it was my pleasure to save you. You wound me, you know, in acting as though I was the one who set that demonic thing upon you."

"I doubt anything wounds you, Oh Great and Powerful King of the Goblins." Sarah mock-bowed to him. 'You probably will set something like that on me too, once you're free and done with me.' She mumbled below her breath.

"What are you mumbling about, woman?" he asked testily, her behavior riling him.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing. I'm sorry, I shouldn't be so ungrateful to you. Thank you for saving me. I screwed up and almost got myself killed before saving you and the others like I said I would, so I'm sorry for that and I thank you for giving me a hand. Happy? Now, send me back so I can finish this."

Jareth looked reproachfully confused. During her first trip to the Underground, when they had been on opposing sides, Sarah hadn't been so hateful. And their first meeting after six years apart had been…interesting, to say the least, and altogether hopeful. But now, though they were fighting on the same side, she looked and treated him as though he were the villain and Goliath were a saint she was being forced to murder! Suddenly, he remembered the mirror…and the hour Sarah had been absent from his gaze, though Goliath had brazenly lied to her and told her it had been two. What had happened within the glass walls of Goliath's magick?

"Sarah…you are being sarcastic, aren't you? "Do you really think that's why I saved you? Just because I need you to save us, you think that was my only motivation?"

"Wasn't it? It's not like we left each other on the best note six years ago when we last saw each other, remember? And now I have your power, so that's even less motivation for you to save me, other than wanting to save yourself. Oh but don't worry, I'm sure once I free you, you'll have enough power to get rid of me if you start to feel threatened. After all, you've done it before." She snapped at him.

Jareth closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose in utter bewilderment. "Sarah, what on Earth are you talking about?"

Sarah looked at him incredulously. "You're really going to stand there like a jerk and act like you have no clue as to what I'm talking about?"

"I can assure you, I'm not acting. In fact, I must warn you that this whole façade you see of being irritated by your incessant mutterings and rambles and having my patience tried is very much real. So I ask that you get to the point and tell me what's really on your mind." He growled out, fixing his blue eye upon her while his brown remained closed.

"Oh, I'll get to the point, Goblin King. You." she stood before him pointedly, jabbing his chest with her angry fingernail. "YOU are the backstabbing bastard who threw away your own best friend after he saved your life! Just because the thing he saved you from was making him more powerful than you. So you told the elders to banish him and get him out of the way! And don't you dare try to deny it, because I saw it! Everything! From the time when you were such good friends, because he wasn't nearly as powerful as the Prince of all Faery—which I don't appreciate you not telling me by the by—to the time when you decided to betray him instead of help him you selfish, egotistical, arrogant…"

Sarah had been jabbing him hard on the chest the entire time she had been ranting at him, to emphasize her words, but had to stop mid-sentence when he released the bridge of his nose to grab the hand she was poking him with. He brought his face down level with hers; his eyes were steely and icy, licks of fire leaping up behind them. His voice was quiet and dangerous. "You dare to stand here abusing me, accusing me, blatantly mistaking me for a liar, and believing the Fae beast who took away my kingdom and imprisoned your friends? Before even knowing the full story, Sarah? Do…you…dare?" his voice may not have been loud, but his tone could fell mountains.

Presently it caused Sarah to cower before him, for he was extremely frightening. 'Nice way to get a magical King ticked off, Sarah.' She thought to herself. "I…I saw it though. He showed me his memories." Her voice went from loud and angry to timid as a mouse. "He was walking down the hall of the Tuatha De Danaan Castle and he…he overheard you telling the elders to send him away so they'd be rid of him, because his power was too great."

"So that's what happened…" Jareth spoke mysteriously, releasing Sarah's hand and walking to the chair to sit. Sarah watched him cautiously, puzzled.

"So did you? Did you sell him out?" Sarah asked quietly, so as not to anger him again.

Jareth looked at her blankly, answering the question with another. "Why are you still fighting to help us? Do you truly think I'm a liar Sarah? That I've been lying to you all this time?"

"I…I guess…I don't really know what to think. I still don't agree with what Goliath's doing, which is why I'm still helping, but I don't know what to believe. You could be telling the truth just as easily as you could be lying. It's not like you haven't done it before you know, six years ago when you tried to get me to forget about Toby and stay."

"…So you think that was a lie too, do you?" Jareth closed his eyes, sighing quietly. When they opened again, his eyes were just as blank as his stare, numb and unfeeling. Standing, Jareth drew another crystal to his hand, not even bothering to do one of his fancy tricks this time and handing it dismissively to Sarah.

"Do with it as you will. Ask the medallion to take you back. Use it to veil yourself from the eyes and ears of the Shadow Soul. Hurry, before your time runs out." he sat back on the chair, looking away into the nothingness beyond his circle of crystal lights.

Sarah was confused, and didn't know what to say, or what else to do but what he had told her to do, though her heart banged at her chest in prtotest to go back and talk to him as she disappeared from his prison. The medallion brought her back to the Marshes, somewhere in the midst of them, away from where she had encountered the Shadow Soul. Quickly, Sarah asked the medallion for protection from the soul and it veiled her almost immediately, just as the minion flew overhead. Once it was out of sight and earshot again, Sarah drew the crystal Jareth had given her from her pocket. 'What are you playing at, Jareth? Did you or didn't you betray Goliath?' She knew there was only one way to find out, and so she sat beneath a large tree on a strip of land, careful not to put her feet anywhere near the acidic water, and gazed into the crystal. The first image wasn't of present day Jareth telling her what was what, but of the same past memory Goliath had shown her, only this time through Jareth's perspective. He had been ignoring the rantings of his fifth fiancée and staring blankly out the window before she stormed out to his parents and Goliath came in. He knew Goliath to be late constantly and expected it of him that day, but had decided ahead of time to mess with him a little. But of course, Goliath knew him well, and knew he would never try to pull rank and status on him like that. He had felt vulnerable as he told his friend the truth to all the failed marriages, but also grateful for Goliath's ear and company, and the two shared a much needed laugh at the end of it all, before his parents called for him to get his explanation on why Margaret, his fiancée, had just come storming out to bitch at them, ultimately condemning herself to Queen Titania's froggy wrath. The memories went on in the same sequence as Goliath's from Jareth's eyes; Jareth's parents had given him the job as Goblin King because they knew he would never marry unless he had a permanent reason for keeping his vigil on the Aboveground, and being the protector of abused and unwanted children from that place would do it. But his new title came with new enemies who weren't very fond of the mortals, and one such enemy had awakened from a dark slumber to greet the new King. Which is how Goliath ended up having to risk his life for his friend's. Jareth had never forgiven himself for it; he knew it should've been him and not Goliath. For months, while Goliath had been under the care of the best doctors in Faery, Jareth had alternated from his Castle Beyond the Goblin City to the Tuatha De Danaan Castle, keeping a vigil over the children of the Aboveground as well as his dearest friend. Slowly though, he had watched Goliath come back as a different Fae; colder, darker, and more guarded than a steel safe. He went to a Magick School to learn from the best masters how to suppress the dark-side of his friend, and the part of Goliath that was still him was more than happy to learn it too. And for awhile after, using those techniques, Goliath became his old self again. But no matter what Jareth said or did, Goliath wouldn't allow his dark magick to be removed from his body, and it kept on growing in strength, despite Goliath being sane again. Jareth knew that as he began to notice it more, so would the Fae Elders. Sure enough, his parents and the Fae Elder's called him in one morning to speak about Goliath.

_Prince Jareth, we the Elders have come to a decision. Goliath has recuperated well, learned much from you on successfully suppressing his dark nature. But he is a danger to us all as long as his dark powers continue to grow. Soon, he could get it into his head to use his new abilities to take over your parents' Kingdom and rule Faery himself. We can not risk that. And so we have spoken with King Oberon and Queen Titania and we agree that he must be put to death._

_Are you mad?? You can't do that! Mother, Father, you don't know Goliath as I do. None of you do. He would never do anything of the sort. He hasn't had any episodes from his dark self for nearly a month now! His powers continue to grow, but he never uses them for anything! He's finally opening up to me again as well, instead of putting on that façade he had as his darker self. Given time, I may even be able to finally convince him to relinquish them all together!_

_Be that as it may, Jareth, Goliath still has dangerous magick for the time being that no one should have. Black magick that needs to be buried quickly, and the only way to do so is…_

_Wait! Wait. Please. Just send him away. Send Goliath away. His power is too great now, so do this. Then he will harm no one. And you'll be free of your fears. And you'll be rid of him, instead of having to have his blood on your hands. He saved my life, he saved me from the fate that he now suffers. At least do this much for him, damnit!_

His mother and father looked at him grievously, knowing full well it wasn't a wise idea for them to just banish such dark powers, but they also knew their son was right. He had saved their only child from a fate worse than death, and deserved mercy. So they ruled that Goliath be banished instead to the Outer Reaches of the Underground, far enough away from Faery but close enough for Jareth to keep a vigil on him. But when Jareth left to go explain the situation to Goliath, he found Goliath in a darker rage than he had seen him in since he first was taken over by the darkness. Goliath cursed him out and spewed angrily about Jareth's betrayal on him, and though Jareth tried to defend himself and calm the Fae man, nothing could calm the beast that had awoken. Even so, Jareth had never expected his dearest friend since his childhood years to attack him. And soon the two were in a battle there was no turning back from, until finally Jareth arose bitterly victorious, with an enraged Goliath trapped in a crystal in the palm of his hand. He knew all of Faery would have felt the battle and the power raging in front of the Tuatha De Danaan Castle, but he didn't care. When his father came for them, Jareth was angry at the world, at the Elders, at his parents, and at himself for the fact that he had had to imprison his best friend.

_Do with him what you will. I no longer care. He is no longer a friend of mine._

Jareth hid his face from his father, though his father already knew of the pained look he had and the tears that flowed freely from his mismatched eyes. He flew away without looking back and fought to tune out his father's voice across the skies, not wanting to think at all.

Sarah watched all this in tears. It had all been a misunderstanding, and now the two were bitter enemies. It wasn't fair, and nothing could make the unfairness okay in Sarah's eyes. Just as she started to stand up, another image jumped into the crystal. An image that made her gasp…

**A/N:** Yup, I'm doing it, I'm giving you a cliffhanger. Sorry! But it must be done. See you in the next Chapter!

Sarah: Wait, what?

Jareth: Hold on! Hold the bloody phone, you really think you can get away with just leaving the story in a middle part like that?

Me: Umm….yea? I am the author.

Jareth: Well as one of your chosen characters, I demand that you sit right back down here and finish this story before we throw you into the Bog of Eternal Stench.

All Story Characters: YEA!

Me: But…but that's not fair!

Sarah: Gee, I wonder what your basis for comparison is. FINISH THE CHAPTER!

All Story Characters: YEA!

Me: OKAY OKAY already. Geez.

Just as she started to stand up, another image jumped into the crystal. An image that made her gasp; Jareth, clad in his poet's shirt, tight pants, and feathered cape in the image, was standing before the fifteen year old Sarah, holding a crystal with her dreams inside as she spoke the lines from her play to defeat him. Sarah was more aware than she had been, during the confrontation, of the exhausted and despairing look on Jareth's face as she kept trying to remember the words that would take her and Toby home; the glint of hope he held in his eyes when she looked like she was considering his offer, and how his face had fallen with disappointment and sorrow when she had said the words. She saw that afterwards, he had peeked in on the celebrations in her room and flown away into the light of the moon, reappearing in a gigantic library in the Tuatha de Danaan Castle. Transforming, his medallion had begun to blink silver incessantly, as if trying to tell him something. He ran to some old rolled parchments inside glass bookcases on the left side of the wall and pulled one specific one out. Bringing it to a table, he read the words written in a language Sarah couldn't place, and slowly smiled as whatever the words said brought hope back to his eyes. It was the last thing Sarah saw as the image faded and the bubble popped.

Now, not only was Sarah sorry for bitching at the Fae man, but she was also thoroughly confused by him. Which somehow irritated her, and that soon became anger. "That's it." She stated with finality, removing the veil the medallion had cast on her. She clutched it tighter then and concentrated on the one thought on her mind.

Jareth had given up watching her and sat in his chair, looking at his own memories of he and his childhood friend in his crystal. He yearned for those times again, when he could go to Goliath for advice about anything, but knew he could never see them again, save for in his crystals. He was so distracted with his own thoughts that he was actually startled when he heard Sarah's voice right beside him.

"Okay, I really am sorry for accusing you now. I should have realized there were two sides to a story, so I take back everything I said about you. But what the hell Jareth! What was with the last thing you showed me? You're confusing the living shit out of me!"

Jareth stood perplexed, taking a minute to remember the crystal he had given Sarah to look at. "I must say, you have quite a way of surprising people, Sarah my dear. What are you going on about now?"

"I'm talking about the crystal! The last image you showed me, of our last confrontation in the Escher room."

"…Yes, what of it?" he baited her.

"What do you mean what of it? You showed me that for a reason didn't you?"

"I may have, but I've been creating so many crystals as of late, I never know what I've put in them." He teased, refusing to give her a straight answer.

Sarah huffed. She knew this was one of those 'ask the right question' moments, so she would have to ask the question on her mind, even if she didn't want to. "Jareth…when you asked me to fear you, love you, do as you said and you would be my slave…did you mean it?"

"…What if I did Sarah? What would you do?"

"Damnit Jareth! Stop answering me with questions! You confuse the living shit out of me, you know that? Not once since I've been back, hell, not once in the past six years have I ever been sure of how I felt about you or how you feel about me, and every time I try to figure out the answer, my heart feels likes it's about to jump right out of my chest and my brain feels like it's going to explode in confusion and I can't take much more of this! I need to know how you feel about me so I can program my heart accordingly, so stop giving me these stupid subtle hints and prods and just tell me al—"

Jareth's lips came crashing down onto hers to shut her up. Sarah had had few dates as a teen, and even fewer now that she was older, and the kisses she had experienced in those dates were nothing like this. Fire and lightning were the two elements of nature that passed through their lips and circulated, creating so much friction and arousal in the two of them, it was damn near impossible to keep in control. Jareth knew there was little time for romance just then, as time still moved in the Underground while Sarah remained with him, so he ended the kiss before it could really begin.

"I meant every word. And I love you, Sarah Williams. There. Happy now?" he smirked at her reddened, speechless lips and her blushing, astonished face. Pulling her into his embrace, he gently whispered the way to set him free into her ear, knowing it was time. Sarah looked up at him with a look that said "Wait what?" in it, but before she could voice anything, without a word, he gave the medallion one last command through his connection to take Sarah back to the Marshlands, kissing her forehead as she disappeared.

**A/N:** Me: How's that? Better?

Jareth: Much.

Sarah: Very much. Thank you!

Me: My pleasure to oblige (though I was under direst).

Jareth and Sarah: What was that?

Me: Nothing, nothing at all. ANYWAY, thank you one and all for reading up to this point. I know not all will be happy with the fact that there was no hot Jareth/Sarah sex yet but be patient with me. After all, Sarah is being timed on this whole journey thing so they really don't have time for sex. The next chapter, depending on how long it is, may be the last for this story, but I'm thinking about making a sequel of sorts for it. We shall see, we shall see. But until next Chapter, "Constructive criticism" people! Lol Later!! ^_^


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N: **OMGGGGG! THE LAST CHAPTERRRR! Finals are OVER (thank God for small favors), and I finally had the time to FINISH THIS! I actually finished it four days ago, but my computer just recently returned to the world of the living. You all are going to love this one, and if you don't, I apologize for my assumption and for making an ass of you and me (love that saying lol). But no, I really think you'll love it.

Jareth: I quite think so too, my dear.

Sarah: Oh, they will definitely love this.

Hoggle: Of course they will, it's 'bout us, after all!

Sir Didymus: Indeed, Sir Hoggle, I do agree. And you, my lady, our dear writer, have done a superb job in portraying us as the valiant knights we are!

Ludo: Ludo love story.

Goliath: **coughsloveyourstorycoughs** Sorry, a little, uh, sentimentality stuck there, in my throat…

Thank you from my beautiful peanut gallery hahahaha. Even you Goliath. Alright then, I now present to you the last, extra long, extra epic chapter of _A New Goblin King: Return to the Labyrinth_! HAVE AT IT!

**Chapter 11**

Climbing up the hill, Sarah ducked down behind a tree as she heard the Shadow Soul fly above the treetops for the millionth time, looking for her. It had been like that since she had returned from Jareth's prison and she could swear she was wasting a good hour or so on avoiding the foul creature in search of her. Though it could normally just sense pure souls, the Shadow was having a difficult time of pinpointing Sarah's energies through the veil of the Labyrinth's magick surrounding her, flying blind as it were. Sarah utilized the power until she finally managed to reach the end of the marsh and found herself in the self-same forest above the junkyard where she had eaten Jareth's peach and danced with him in the dream world. The only difference, as it was with most of the other areas of the Labyrinth, was its deceivingly picturesque appearance. Her journey was nearly at an end. Taking a short break, Sarah sat down on one of the tree's roots. Her stomach grumbled, which oddly made her yearn for a peach, which brought her mind back to Jareth.

"….He kissed me." She spoke like a love-struck teenage girl who had just experienced her first kiss. Her fingers unconsciously traced over her lips, the tingle of his still faintly there. Her blush returned as she recalled the feel of his soft lip on hers, how perfectly they had fit each other as they kissed, the spark of fire and lightning emitted through their cores…

"Down, Sarah! Breathe now girl." She pep talked her lungs to draw in breath again, as they had stuck somewhere along her train of thought. Her heart began to stick too, as she refocused on the three little words no man had ever expressed to her that he had shared willingly. But as she thought more on it, Sarah realized the signs of it had been obvious, even before she knew he existed.

"'But what no one knew was that the King of the Goblins had fallen in love with the girl…' It was me wasn't it? All this time, you were in love with me…" Sarah whispered to the winds, which heard her and stroked her cheek in acknowledgement. She got annoyed over it. "Geez, it took you long enough to tell me, Jareth!" she spoke aloud, knowing full well that he was probably watching her through his crystals and giving her that same oh-so-arrogant chuckle. Then, her mind wandered to the whispered words he had spoken before sending her back to the Labyrinth again.

'So that's what you were reading in that last part of the scene in the crystal. What the prophecy foretold. But…can I do what prophecy asks of me?' she questioned herself inwardly. 'I feel…I'm still not sure what it is I feel. Can I give up my freedom, everything to do this? Do I care for him enough to?" Her face scrunched slightly in deep thought.

"No, I'll find another way." She decided, standing up. 'Maybe the medallion, the Labyrinth's magick can do something about this. There has to be another way. I'll think about that later. Right now, I need to get going, before my time runs out.' Looking up the hill, Sarah recognized the area ahead where her friends had pulled her from the junkyard, and where she would finally be able to see the Castle Beyond the Goblin City.

"Well," she spoke down to her scuffed and burnt flats, "come on feet." Walking a few steps, Sarah stopped mid-step, face-to-face with the Shadow Soul. What the heroine had failed to realize was that the veil had come down during her rest, and so she had no longer been hidden from the creature. Before Sarah could think to either run or fight it though, the Soul looked back sharply, with a hiss, as though hearing something she could not. Whatever it heard caused it to move away from her with an impatient snarl and retreat back toward the castle. She was confused by its actions until a wave of decrepitating power made her fly backward onto the ground, shaking the trees and the forest floor beneath her in its wake. She looked up wide-eyed as the trees' leaves shriveled and disappeared on their branches, the trees turning gray and rotting all around her, and the grass dying and drying up into little brown clumps beneath her. The sky dimmed gray, and the birds and insects she had heard all disappeared without a trace.

"Goliath, what have you done?"

Scrambling up now, Sarah ran up the hill to see what had become of the city. The moment she crested the great grey hill, the sight that met her deep green eyes caused her to sink down to her knees, grief dripping from her eyes as she overlooked the ruined city in its true state. The gated entrance that once held the metal giant was no more than ancient rubble on the ground. The buildings and streets beyond, more run down and weathered looking than they had ever been under the rule of the Goblin King, looked completely unlivable and were no longer white with their deceitful perfections. And on the street, her stomach flipped as her eyes picked out the outlines of Goblin bodies strewn along the ground. Darkness descended upon the city, literally circling ominously around the castle's black and broken turrets. The sight was so sickeningly grievous, it was no wonder Sarah turned to release what was left in her stomach of the dinner Karen had fixed for her and Toby. The medallion, like a comforting child, warmed and shook gently against her chest. Sarah pressed it closer with a freehand, using the other to wipe her mouth. How she desperately wished her friends were with her now.

"Hoggle, Ludo, Sir Didymus, Ambrosyius…" Sarah whispered their names to the shivering winds, thinking of them trapped and cold in the dank depths of the oubliette. About Jareth trapped in that dark and lonely place somewhere, far from her, all thanks to the darkly misguided soul that was Goliath. All of them were the reasons why she was here, and all she had to fight for. Pulling herself up off the ground, Sarah clutched the medallion with both hands, seeking the brave resolve her friends had given her during her first journey as she made her way down to the Goblin City once again.

Sarah stepped gingerly over the rubble of the gateway, the Dragon Eye Ring, for the moment, silently indicating her safety. Nearby, a Goblin lay sprawled on the ground; dead or alive, Sarah couldn't tell. Running to it, Sarah turned what was a male goblin with a large, spotted nose and tufts of black and electric blue hair on its head over to its back. To her surprise and delight, the little two foot tall Goblin was only sleeping too deeply for waking words. Checking on a few more, Sarah found them all under some sort of spell cast by none other than Goliath. It fully hit her that the utopia-like world Goliath had shown her before, a world of cleanliness, of peace, of happiness, was no more than the biggest of white lies, a reflection of a dream cast in place of the real scene. The medallion heated red with her anger, three times more violently than it had earlier that day at Sarah's job, and the wind began to cycle around her at high speed. Sarah furiously made her way around the sleeping bodies to the castle beyond. No one stopped her, nothing came for her, which would have struck a cautious cord with her, had her temper not been sparked. Nearly there, Sarah began to climb the stairs leading the doors when a very red-eyed Ambrosyius snarled her back down from the top. Holding him firmly on a leash, as he struggled to get at his former friend vehemently, was a saddened Wise-Man, with his hat drooping its long neck down in a silent doze.

"Ambrosyius…Wise-Man…"Sarah breathed out in shock and hurt, reaching her hand to her shaggy four-legged friend. But Ambrosyius was in a less than welcoming mood, snapping at Sarah's outstretched hand.

"Stay back!" Wise-Man warned. "Stay back, child. You must turn away from here, now if you wish to ever leave this place. Go back to the Aboveground, while Goliath will still let you."

"I can't, Wise-Man."

"Please girl! I don't want to let this brainwashed dog hurt you! He has been turned for the worse, and I fear there is no calling him back, not even by you! If you don't leave, I will have to let him go, and you will have to kill him or risk being killed by him." The Wise-Man said solemnly.

"I can't! You know that I can't. I have to get Jareth back. I have to return the Underground to the way it was. I can't leave you like this." Sarah replied, her resolve never wavering.

"But you must, Sarah! Goliath fears you, your power. If you don't leave now, he will not hesitate to have me kill you. I am not even in control of my own body as we speak, only my voice. Please Sarah, I do not wish to harm you!"

"No." she refused again, opening her arms defiantly. "I won't leave you and the others like this, Wise-Man. I'm sorry. If Goliath wants me, so be it. Let him try." She asserted her conviction by taking two steps up the stairs, despite Ambrosyius' snapping jaws and the medallion's throbbing forewarning against her chest.

"…May the Labyrinth protect you, then." Wise-Man prayed, as his wrinkled hand slowly released Ambrosyius' leash. Sarah felt her arms go over her face, felt her left foot slip off the third step in to the air, heard Ambrosyius' rancor howl as he leapt off his back haunches at her, but watched it as though she were in a slow motion movie. The thing that snapped her back to reality was the excruciating pain of Ambrosyius' teeth rupturing the skin of her right arm. Sarah screamed a piercing scream that did nothing to faze Ambrosyius.

"...nghh...Ambrosyius..." Sarah gritted her teeth in pain, looking desperately at her former friend for a sign of his old self. "Ambrosyius...look at me! You know me! This...isn't you, you're ngghh...you...you would never...hurt me like this!" Sarah pleaded with the red-eyed Sheepdog. But he continued digging his teeth deeper into her arm.

"Sarah, give up and he will let go. Relinquish the medallion and you will be free of this!" Wise-Man pleaded with the young woman.

Sarah ignored him, looking again at Ambrosyius. "Ambrosyius, it's me...ngh...it's Sarah. Don't...you remember me?" The pain was becoming too unbearable, causing her eyes to tear with the pain shooting up her arm. Bloodstains were showing through her cream poet's shirt. "Ambrosyius...please remember! Remember Hoggle? Ludo or...or Sir Didymus? Rem-nghh!...Re...Remember me! You and the...others helped me through the...the Labyrinth the first time...please! AH...nghh...please, let me go Ambrosyius..."

Sarah lifted her free hand up to Ambrosyius' shaggy head, though he growled and bit harder, causing her to scream in agony. Tears were streaming down her face now, but she wouldn't give up. Touching his ear, a faint glow of white shot from her left hand to Ambrosyius' head. His jaw loosened slightly, bringing some relief as Sarah watched the dog anxiously. Slowly, but surely, the red-faded from his eyes, turning the beautiful blue they had once been. As if waking from a dream, Ambrosyius snapped his jaw open completely and released her arm, whimpering and backing away from his misdeed in shame.

"No, Ambrosyius, come. Come here...ngh...it's okay. You didn't mean it, I know that." Sarah spoke weakly, coaxing the ashamed canine back to her side. Her arm sat limply on her lap as she sat up wincing, blood splotches stretching across the sleeve of her shirt. Sarah tore the sleeve as best she could from her arm to better view the damage done. Several fairly large holes bled profusely on her forearm. Ambrosyius came closer at her beckoning, licking the wounds on her arm apologetically. She winced momentarily but as he continued it seemed to numb the pain somewhat. Wise-Man made his way down hurriedly, as a crack of thunder sounded above their heads.

"He knows, and he is furious now." Wise-Man confirmed as he kneeled down in his dirty gray robes to examine Sarah's arm.

"I thought you were under his spell." she questioned suspiciously, moving her arm away from him with another wince.

"I do not blame you for your caution, but there is no need. Our spells, Ambrosyius' and mine, were linked, so when you set one of us free, you set the both of us free as well. Now, young woman, let me have a look at it." he replied, taking gentle hold of her injured arm again. Ambrosyius nuzzled her left arm supportively.

The Wise-Man shook his head gravely at seeing the depth of the teeth marks. "Well, on the bright side, he didn't puncture any arteries. You were quite lucky there I must say. But despite this, he did do alot of damage. I have some healing magick, enough to slow the bleeding so that you won't faint, but not enough to heal it completely, I'm afraid. We will have to bind it after I slow the bleeding, that is the best I can do."

Sarah nodded at the diagnosis, relinquishing her arm to the mercy of the Wise-Man. Ambrosyius' licking had indeed numbed the pain some, but not enough to keep Sarah from gritting her teeth as Wise-Man handled her arm. The worried dog willingly allowed her to squeeze him and bury her face in his fur whenever Wise-Man touched a spot that was especially painful.

"You could have used the medallion to protect yourself, you know. I don't think Ambrosyius would have faulted you in the end, and you need not have sacrificed your arm to bring him back." Wise-Man pointed out during the binding.

"Wasn't that the medallion's power that changed him back?" Sarah inquired through ground teeth.

Wise-Man shot his head up, surprised at her. "You do not know you're own magick when you see it, young woman?"

"My magick? That was my magick?"

"Well of course it was! The Labyrinth would never have been so gentle with an attacker."

Sarah felt herself bewildered once more at her own hidden abilities. "Well, whatever it was, it was better than using the medallion's power if what you say is true. I could never hurt Ambrosyius, let alone sick the Labyrinth's magick on him. Besides that, I promised Sir Didymus I'd bring him back in one piece." she replied, rubbing the timid dog's fur. The canine's ears perked up at the mention of his master.

Wise-Man shook his head again as he finished binding her arm as best he could. Sarah looked and realized he had used the cloth of the bloody sleeve she had torn off to bind it. He ripped a second strip of cloth from his own slightly tattered robes to sling her arm with.

"Young woman, you are quite the soul. I see now why King Jareth found you so alluring in your youth. You are far more pure than any human I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. And I have met many." Finishing the sling, Wise-Man reached into his pocket and pulled out the little box he had collected contributions in during her first visit.

"Here. We didn't deserve to ask for this from you, he and I (he indicated his eyes towards the sleeping bird-hat on his head), and I have meant to return it to you for a long time now." Flipping it over, Wise-Man deposited her mother's ring into her open left palm.

"Thank you." she smiled meekly, placing the ring carefully with her right hand onto her left ring finger. It still fit perfectly.

"Now, up you come!" he said, taking her good arm and helping her up. "You must go now; you have little over an hour of time left!"

"Yes, I'll hurry. OH! Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymus are trapped in the oubliette at the entrance of the Hedge Maze, you have to free them." Sarah then handed him the Dragon Eye ring she had gently pried off her right hand. "Take this; it will show you the way to go to avoid all of Goliath's traps. Can you make it?"

"My dear, Goliath may have changed the Labyrinth's looks, and added a few new tricks here and there, but as long as you hold that medallion, the Labyrinth's secret ways still hold in tact." The Wise-Man took the ring, nodding to her gratefully, and headed back toward the Goblin City as Ambrosyius bounded up the stairs to the castle.

"Wise-Man, wait!" Sarah called to him, watching to make sure he stopped and then turning to Ambrosyius. "Ambrosyius, I need you to go and help Wise-Man find the others. I have to go on alone from here."

Ambrosyius whined audibly and returned to Sarah's side, nudging her leg with his forehead as if asking why. She leaned down to stroke his head.

"It has to be done this way Ambrosyius. Besides, I can handle Goliath on my own. But Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymus need help right now, and I know if I send both you and the Wise-Man, that you'll make it and they'll get help. I know you can do it. You just have to be brave." She combed gentle fingers through his fur, lifting it from his loyal blue eyes. "You can be brave for me and go with Wise-Man, can't you?"

Ambrosyius hesitated naturally, but one glance at Sarah's slung up arm and he knew he at least owed her a little show of courage. Barking his acceptance of the task, he ran quickly to follow after Wise-Man, never looking back at Sarah.

Smiling with pride, Sarah turned sideways to look at the looming castle behind her. She looked down at her sleeveless right arm, slung up and bleeding only lightly through the binding now, thanks to the Wise-Man's medical magic. It still throbbed against her side, in more pain than her aching feet. Her jeans were tattered at the bottom and covered in dirt, her shirt just as tattered and dirty. She wanted nothing more than to lie down and take a long rest somewhere. But a flash of silver from the medallion reminded her that she had no time for that just now.

"Come on feet. It's time to finish this." She sighed to her sore appendages. With one hour left on the proverbial thirteen hour clock, Sarah made her way up the steps and through the open doors of Jareth's former castle.

_**Sarah…**_

His cruel voice called to her from the stairwell. Sarah had made her way inside to the throne room, left in shambles and a dark mist the likes of which she'd never seen. At seeing its state, she felt an undeniable yearning for the musty smelling throne room full of trash and strewn with Goblin clothes she had come upon that first time. The stairs he called her from led to the Escher room, but she knew if he had changed this much of the kingdom, he probably had changed that too. Cautiously, Sarah made her way up the stairs.

Moments later, she emerged from the stairwell into what looked like a funhouse of mirrors, only lacking on the fun part. After the last mirror encounter, Sarah was less than trusting of the room and turned to leave, only to find a dead end behind her (she was not surprised). A strange sound echoed throughout the room, reminiscent of the Cleaners from her first visit. Not wanting to see if her hunch was right, Sarah ran through the Hall of Mirrors. Turn after turn, Sarah hit dead ends with her reflection looking back at her mockingly. Quickly Sarah became frustrated, and time was dwindling.

"DAMN YOU GOLIATH! COME OUT YOU BASTARD!" she screamed at the reflections around her. She watched the mirrors, waiting for him to appear while attentively listening for the Cleaner-like sound. Her eyes fell to a mirror on her left. The woman reflected back at her was scantily dressed, wearing only a spaghetti-strapped purple silk nightgown with black lace hemming that barely reached her knees. The woman's eyes were dark and stormy, like Goliath's, and her grin was similarly sly. But the face…the body…Sarah couldn't mistake the woman for anyone but a version of herself.

"Oh Gods…what the hell?" Sarah gasped at the reflection, who smirked back at her mockingly, copying all of her movements like a normal reflection as she touched her face and hands. If Sarah had still had the Dragon Eye ring, she would have found a fast and trapless way to Goliath around the mirror room. If she hadn't gone into the mirror room, she wouldn't have found herself so engrossed, so mesmerized by the strange reflection of herself, and she would have noticed the mirror rippling. And if she had noticed the mirror rippling, she would have known not to get too close. But because she had forfeited all her luck the minute she gave her ring to Wise-Man, she wasn't ready for the reflection to reach her hand through the mirror, grabbing Sarah's arm, and pull Sarah into the darkness.

_Sarah…Sarah my love, wake up for me…_

Her dark eyes fluttered open at the familiar voice above her. The face that looked back was the pale handsome face of her lover. His black hair cascaded over his shoulders as he hovered above her, his stormy blue eyes watching her feverishly, with a longing she recognized all too well. But something seemed odd…strange…she couldn't remember how they had gotten there.

"Where are we my love?" she asked, sitting up some. He sat beside her on the bed, holding her up with a strong arm on her back.

"In our bedroom. You fell asleep, don't you remember darling?"

Sarah couldn't, in fact, remember anything like that. Looking around, she realized the two of them were in a large bedroom of midnight blue walls, lit brightly with lamps and candles all around. She was in the nightgown her beloved Goliath had picked out for her, one that accentuated all the curves he loved about her. He was shirtless and in loose boxers she picked out for him for his own comfort, his taut muscular chest sprinkled with soft black hairs that narrowed all the way down into his boxers. Before that moment seemed hazy in her head, which worried her some. She knew the man beside her, loved him as much as he loved her, but felt something strange in her heart. Something she couldn't explain to herself, and dared not try to explain to her beloved.

"I guess I was more tired than I thought. I'm sorry." She replied, rubbing her eyes.

"There's nothing to apologize for, I should have realized how tired you were and let you sleep. Lie back down and sleep sweetheart."

"No no, it's alright honey. I'm not tired anymore." She smiled up at him.

He leaned his head against her forehead, kissing her lightly on the lips. "Are you sure, my love? We can do this another night."

"We could, but you know you don't want to." Sarah said playfully, lightly teasing his lips with hers. He happily accepted her tease, pulling her to him for a full-blown kiss. She immediately pushed her tongue into his mouth, grazing the top of his mouth with it and sending shivers down his throat. His hands wandered down her right side, squeezing her breast for a moment before sliding down to the hem of the lace that rested on her thigh. Sarah pushed both hands into his hair, yanking at it hard just the way she remembered he liked it.

But was that a memory? She wasn't sure at that moment. She was unsure of a lot of things. Though he felt so good on her lips, against her skin, there was something very wrong about it too, but she couldn't figure out what.

His hand slid to the inside of her thigh, creeping up to her wet crotch. She jumped up then, off the bed and backed toward a large vanity dresser with a lamp and several picture frames on it. As soon as she jumped up, she felt ridiculous for doing so. This was her lover, her heart. They had made love before, (even though she couldn't remember it just then), so why was this time any different? To remedy the situation, she played the seductress.

"Not so fast, Goliath. You can't touch that so soon in the game. You haven't satisfied me yet." She batted her eyes flirtatiously to add to the effect.

It seemed to work because he grinned at her mischievously and stalked over like a large feral dog. "Sarah, you know I would never dream of pleasing myself before pleasing you." he spoke low, growling her name. All thoughts of anything being wrong flew from her mind the minute he had her pinned to the dresser, grinding against her heated crotch with his own, biting and suckling the uncovered skin around her neck and shoulders. She moaned his name uncontrollably, arching her back and hitting her head against the mirror as the two rocked against the dresser. Her hands snaked into his hair, yanking it roughly, drawing great howls of lust from his throat. The lamp teetered toward the edge and the pictures fell flat on the dresser. Sarah glanced at them through her lust euphoria, seeing her and Goliath together, holding hands and kissing in two of the pictures. In one picture, the one closest to her right thigh, a young Goliath stood grinning, with his arm up in midair, as though it was around the shoulders of another person, but the image had been cut out.

"Goliath, who was in that picture?" Sarah croaked out through her moans.

"Does it matter?" He ground hard into her crotch, drawing a half-scream from her as she arched her back further. He took that opportunity to stick his face into her chest, laving greedily with his tongue at the valley between her breasts. Sarah moaned, pushing herself further up onto the dresser and hugging Goliath further into her chest. Her hips rocked headily against the noticeable protrusion in his boxers, her legs wrapping around his waist. But she just couldn't get the picture out of her head.

"Wait wait, stop a minute honey, please." she begged him. He grudgingly obliged, giving her a look that said 'this better be good'. "I'm sorry, I got curious about this picture. Why'd you cut whoever was in it out?"

Goliath looked over at the said picture, next her thigh, and for a second Sarah thought she saw fear and anger in his stormy eyes, before they dissipated into the calm of the blue seas. "It's just an old photo. Someone who was my friend but…no longer is."

_A misunderstanding__…_ someone called into her head.

'Where did that come from?' she thought to herself. Something about the picture confused her, bringing back the feeling of something being wrong almost tenfold.

"No more about old times. Right now all I want to picture is you out of that troublesome lingerie." He growled, resuming his sexual ministrations on her. His hands pulled her spaghetti straps down her shoulders, stroking circles along her upper arms as they went down.

"Wait, Goliath." She stopped him, pulling his hands from her dress. "I'm sorry; my head just feels really weird and foggy for some reason." She turned around to the mirror to look at herself. Her reflection was that of a vibrantly sexy, dark eyed woman, with red lips from making out and red marks all along her neck and collarbone from her lover. It was seductively pleasing, but it just didn't seem like her. "I…I feel like I'm supposed to remember something, as odd as that may sound. Like there's something I've forgotten."

Goliath wrapped himself around her from the back, one arm at her waist while the other teasingly molested her crotch through the silk of her nightgown. "How could you have forgotten something when everything we ever need is right here in this room, with each other? There's nothing you've forgotten, my sweet."

But the foggy feeling in her head was growing, and Goliath's influence was dissipating. He kissed her neck and pulled up the nightgown to graze her heated vagina with his finger. She moaned lightly, trying to fight the lust. She glanced down at the photo again. An image formed in her mind...the boy standing beside Goliath…grinning arrogantly, short blonde hair sprouting from his head…deep penetrating eyes, blue…and brown…the boy all grown up, wearing a sparkling blue cape with a regal air, smirking at her haughtily with pointed teeth…

_Sarah…_

"…Jareth."

It all came flooding back, too fast for her to comprehend, but not fast enough for her to push Goliath angrily away from her.

"You BASTARD!" she screamed, furiously chucking anything and everything within her reach at him.

"Sarah! Stop! Don't do this, don't ruin this, I can give you your dreams! I can be your King, the lover who treats you like a Queen! Isn't that what you've always wanted?"

She stopped, lowering the lamp she had unplugged and was just about to slam into his face. Her voice was calmly vicious, adamant on getting her point across and leaving no confusion. "You can't go picking into my dreams without seeing the whole picture, Goliath. Yes, that is what I want. But not with you. The only man I'll ever want in this world or in any other is Jareth. And so help me, I will BRING HIM BACK!"

The lamp slammed into the glass mirror of the vanity, cracking it and the walls around them. Sarah fell into darkness, returning to her original form, injured arm and all. Goliath and the remnants of the room disappeared around her, and she fell fast through the darkness before hitting the cold floor of a long white hallway with her butt seconds later.

"OWWW!" she groaned, lying sideways to rub her sore bum. "Goliath, if Jareth doesn't cut your dick off after all of this, I will, count on THAT." She growled out, pushing herself up to her feet with her good arm. Looking around, she saw several other doors leading down the hall. Each one with an odd symbol on it.

_**The door you seek reflects my eyes and holds the color that is brightest to my mind. Pick one door and only one. Find me, and you will find Jareth. Hurry, child. You have 15 minutes left**__._

"What kind of hint is that, jerk?" Sarah sneered at the voice and the riddle. She hated riddles, but time was not on her side, so she examined the symbols hurriedly. There were 10 doors in total, 5 on each side of the hall. Each had a different symbol on it, and each symbol was a different color. 'But which is the right one?' she thought. She tried listening with her ears to the doors, but no sounds were emitted through the cold wood. She tried looking through the crevice at the bottoms of the doors, but all she could see was darkness.

"How the hell am I supposed to pick the right door? DAMN riddles to the hellish corners of the solar system!" Sarah vehemently snapped, leaning against a wall with her hands on her face.

'If I don't figure this out soon, I'll lose. And he'll take the medallion and…Jareth…"

The medallion hummed against her chest, warming her heart and speaking to her in its own way. The Labyrinth embraced her with its magick, whispering to her for the first time words only she could hear.

"I hear you." Sarah replied, cupping it gently in her hands. "You're right. I can't give up now. Okay. Think Sarah. A symbol that reflects his eyes and holds the color brightest in his mind. Well, his eyes are blue…but none of the symbols are the same kind of blue. His are a stormy sea blue….a storm." Something clicked in Sarah's brain, and her feet moved her in front of a door with a black lightning symbol on it. "There's lightning in a storm. And the brightest color in his mind…his mind is full of darkness, so the color would be black!" she surmised proudly. "I just hope I'm actually getting smarter this time. Only one way to find out." Grabbing the doorknob, Sarah took a deep breath, pulled it open, and walked in.

The room was pitch black, save for the silver light Sarah's medallion now emitted. She almost thought she had chosen wrong, but her ears caught the voice of her "gracious host" to her left.

"_**Enjoying the comfort of my chambers?"**_

"Hardly." Sarah quipped.

"_**Give me the medallion."**_ He spoke from another area of the room. Sarah swung her head around, but could see nothing but her light.

"Give me Jareth." She replied saucily. He chuckled darkly from some hidden corner.

"It doesn't work that way, girl." He whispered near her ear. She swung her left arm at him, but it only hit air.

"Why now, Goliath? It's been six years, hasn't it? Since I won? Since you came back? You've had control here since that time, haven't you? So why show up now, after so long?"

Goliath laughed snidely, coldly. _**"Your Jareth held more power than I imagined, and more insight. He knew when I'd be coming for him, so he hid the powers of his precious Labyrinth, the heart of his home, in the Aboveground. When I imprisoned him, he had enough power left to veil the whereabouts of the medallion's holder. I've slowly been draining him of his strength these past years, and was finally able to remove the veil a few days ago. Had you removed the medallion today, and left it home, we wouldn't have had to go through any of this."**_

"Good thing I did then." She replied defiantly.

"_**Give me the medallion, Sarah. It doesn't belong to you. You don't belong here, in this world."**_ His voice echoed from all around the room, as if he were everywhere.

"Too afraid to come out Goliath? To stop hiding in the darkness?"

"_**Pitiful girl. I am not the one with ten minutes left on the clock. What will you do now? Try and fight me? You and I both know that you can not defeat me on your own, and clearly you're all alone. Give up Sarah. Give up, and give me the medallion."**_

Sarah was silent for several moments. He was right; she couldn't defeat him on her own, and she knew it. But if she didn't fight, who would? Goliath watched her, seeing her quite clearly despite the light of the medallion. His eyes had long since adjusted to the darkness. She wasn't moving, only looking at the magick trinket she fingered. He dared to cast a bit of hope that she would give up now. Her next words sucker punched him back to reality.

"Through dangers untold…and hardships fucking unnumbered…I have fought my way here to this castle…to take back the kingdom that you have stolen, you asshole."

The darkness around her warped and twisted with color until she found herself standing in the broken Escher room again, before a black clad Goliath under an archway; just as she had stood before Jareth six years ago; just as she had stood in her dreams since. The ancient clock stood just as it had before, 5 minutes left on its face.

"Beware, child." Goliath warned. "You may think me cruel thus far, but I can be crueler." He walked around her as if stalking prey.

"Cruel? No. You've been utterly merciless Goliath, to me and everyone in this kingdom. You don't deserve to take the throne."

"Oh you think so do you?" he snapped at her. "Hundreds of years, I was imprisoned in that dark netherland between worlds. Hundreds of years I was left to waste away in that place, in a bubble, abandoned. Hundreds of years I've honed my power, strengthened my weaknesses, and become stronger than Jareth, nearly as strong as his precious Labyrinth herself! Isn't such great power worthy of a throne such as this?"

Sarah watched the lightning storm in his eyes, unafraid of him. Goliath had inadvertently shown her before what she needed to know, and now, with Jareth's help as well, she knew the words that would save them all. "There's one problem with that logic Goliath. You see, as prophesized by King Oberon himself, Jareth lost his magick to me, one who was prophesized to beat the Labyrinth and save it as well. I am the rightful heir to the throne of the Goblin King, so this power does belong to me, and this kingdom is my kingdom."

He stood startled, taken aback, jolted by her words and the realization that they were true. He had no claim to the throne, and therefore no power, and she could decree it as such. "Say it then!" he demanded, flicking his wrist. An instant later, Jareth's floating body appeared behind him, asleep in a perpetual dream. A glass bauble appeared in his other hand, dark purple mist and an angry faced Jareth floating within it. "His soul has been removed from his body and placed in this. A fitting punishment for the one he had bestowed upon me so long ago. Say it, girl. Say the words, and I will be banished for all eternity. But he, he will remain as he is. And neither your magick, nor anyone else's will ever be able to free him from this. He will suffer as I have suffered, and then, the minute you slip up, I will be able to return to take this throne once and for all." He grinned snidely at her, sure that he had won.

"You don't know anything, Goliath." She continued, unfazed by his threat. "Jareth saved you that day he told the elders to banish you. If he hadn't told them that, they would have killed you. It was all a terrible misunderstanding at the end, and it led to all of this. I'm going to remedy that now, because this place changed my life forever, and I will forever be thankful for it. And for its true King." The clock was seconds away from the thirteenth hour. "So without further ado…" she dramatically held the medallion in between both hands. "I decree, as Goblin Queen, that Jareth has all power over me, and you have none. To Jareth, the man I love, I give all my power!" the clock gonged the thirteenth hour, just as Sarah finished speaking. Silvery magick began to shift from the medallion to Jareth's soul inside the bubble.

Goliath saw he had lost, felt it in his bones, but refused to give up without a fight. So in one last ditch effort, he threw the crystal down on the floor with all the dark strength he could muster, ironically praying that his dark power combined with his strength would be enough to break the bauble.

Sarah lunged forward as she watched it fall, trying to catch it, but she was too late. The bauble hit the ground and broke into a million tiny shards of glass that disappeared. Goliath cackled triumphantly, almost amazed that he had pulled it off at the last minute. Sarah fell to her knees, her body and mind numb and unfeeling. She had lost everything. The kingdom, her friends' freedom…and him.

"He's gone…" she whispered to herself incredulously. She couldn't believe it. Reaching up, she tried to touch the medallion for any kind of comfort or sign that this was a dream, and that he was really okay. The medallion was gone. Sarah looked down at her neck, silent tears streaming down her face. The only thing she had left of him was gone from her forever. He was gone from her forever…Goliath's incessant laughter rang bitterly in her ears as she reached to touch the shards of broken glass, sobbing over them.

"Oh, dear child, don't cry so. You'll have a wonderful life with me, as our deal decreed, though I am sure I will enjoy it far more than you." he grinned ominously, stepping toward her with an outstretched hand.

"Touch her, and it will be your last Goliath." Someone addressed Goliath, before addressing Sarah. "And why are you crying, my dear? Tears have never become you, Sarah."

Goliath spun around, staggering back in shock. Sarah looked up, almost afraid that she was hearing things inside her head. But sure enough, Jareth, King of the Goblins, stood in his awakened body behind a defeated Goliath with a smug smirk, back in all his glory. The last gong of the thirteenth hour chimed, and the three were transported from the broken Escher room to the throne room. The darkness that had shrouded the castle was wiped away, as if it had all been a dream. The destruction of the throne room mended itself, returning to its original form. Sarah could hear Goblins outside of the castle, waking up and shouting their relief. She and her King had won.

Sarah ran to the window, looking out at the dim but prevalent sunlight shining its orange glow over the city's restored form. The Goblins danced in the streets, singing off key with happy tones around their houses, which were as lopsided and oddly shaped as ever, but just to their liking. The Labyrinth beyond that, its walls and winding paths back to mixtures of browns and oranges and yellows and greens, hummed joyously at being restored. Even the air smelled normal again, musty but clean and fresh and earthy, with a hint of magick, the way it was meant to be. Never perfect, but as close as needed.

"Sarah! Look out!" Jareth screamed from the other side of the room. She had forgotten Goliath in all the excitement, and turned in time to see his Shadow Soul emerge from his body and fly straight into her own. Everything happened for her in slow motion, with no sound from that point on. She felt darkness envelop her heart, her soul, felt the pain of it sink her to her knees. Through blurry eyes she could see Goliath smiling maliciously at her, and Jareth behind him, eyes flashing too dangerously for her liking. Goliath's smile was wiped away as she saw him fly into the wall above the throne; no doubt Jareth's doing though he didn't lift a finger. Jareth's normally mismatched eyes were both blue now, and held a raging inferno she knew would burn anyone in its path. And the focal point of those eyes was Goliath. Jareth spoke to him, but she couldn't hear. Goliath's face held true fear up against the wall. She knew that if she didn't do something quickly, Jareth would kill his former friend in cold blood, and no matter what he'd done to her, to them all, he didn't deserve that. That's when the first ray of light shown through the shadows surrounding her soul.

Jareth was in a rage he himself had never known before, all because Goliath had harmed what should have been untouchable; his Sarah. He was not going to leave that throne room alive. Hell, his soul wouldn't even leave that throne room in one piece, if Jareth had anything to say about it.

"Any last words, before I crush every sorry bone in your body?" he growled viciously at the man, his eyes flashing with thoughts of murder.

Goliath had never been frightened of his friend in all the many centuries he had known him, though Jareth was known to be quite frightening at times. But this was a Jareth he had never been foolish enough to meet with before. Words were useless against this Jareth, and so he resigned himself to his fate, grateful that he was at least taking the child with him.

"Wait…Jareth…" Sarah's feeble voice spoke from behind him.

Jareth turned his head to meet her eyes. She sat on the ground, dragging herself across the floor to him. Her eyes were beginning to turn black and steely, but he could still see a glimmer of green, a glimmer of herself still in control. "Sarah…" his own eyes melted back to their normal blue and brown. He ran to her side, throwing her good arm over his shoulder to help her stand. She looked up at him through the glimmer of green in her eyes.

"Jareth, don't kill….Another way..." she croaked out, fighting the darkness inside her. "Don't…let go of me…take Goliath's hand."

Jareth held her to his hip with his right arm, careful not to bump against her injured one. Reluctantly but obediently, he lowered Goliath to the ground, still pinning him, and took hold of his right hand. Sarah closed her eyes and almost immediately started to glow.

"What is she doing? What's happening?" Goliath sputtered fearfully.

The glow burst from Sarah's chest first, flowing in streams into Jareth's body and combining his energy with hers to flow into Goliath's, just as it had done when she had purified Ambrosyius. She felt the shadows inside her slowly succumb to the light and disappear as she watched Goliath's body burst into light and disappear before their very eyes. Jareth looked down into her now emerald green eyes, sighing with relief as he pulled her even closer to him, which she didn't mind at all.

"Sarah!"

"My Lady!"

"Sawah!" Hoggle, Sir Didymus, and Ludo called, rushing through the doorway to the throne room, with Wise-Man and Ambrosyius close on their heels. Jareth and Sarah turned, both smiling with relief at seeing them safe and sound. Moments later, Sarah collapsed in Jareth's arms. The last she remembered was Jareth's worried face above hers, and his voice calling her name, fading in her ears.

_Sarah…_

Goliath? Is that you? You look different.

_This is how I looked before the darkness. Before I made the mistake of ever believing my own friend could sell me out. But you freed me child, and for that I will always be grateful. _

But what happens now? 

_For me, I will finally leave this world and crossover to wherever the great Creator deems I must be, even if that place is hell. _

What about me? Am I here because I'm dead too? Or did the shadow take over my body?

_Fear not, child. You are merely asleep. You defeated the shadow within me, but not all of the shadow within yourself, which is why you can not wake. I'm here in your dreams only to thank you and offer my gratitude by removing the last of the shadows._

But you have to come back. You can't die yet. Jareth needs you, you're his best friend. And you can still be again.

_That may be true, but it is no longer me that he needs. You are all he has ever hoped for, and will never find again. You must be his love and his friend now. You will be a great Queen someday._

Goliath…thank you.

_Thank you, Sarah. After all the trouble and pain I caused, I died as myself because of you. So thank you. And take care of him for me._

I will. I will…

_Sarah…_

"…Jareth?" she barely whispered, sliding her eyes open groggily to look for the source of the voice.

She was still in her tattered Aboveground clothes, her hair a mess of bed head, lying in a large golden canopy bed with dark blue comforters, in a grand but simply decorated golden-yellow room, with a silver fireplace at the far end, straight across from the bed, a red-wood writing table beside it, and a comfortable looking red armchair on the other side. The Goblin King stood next to the window, in the same clothes he had been wearing in his imprisoned state, looking out at the sun setting on the Labyrinth with a worried look in place of his familiar arrogance.

"Jareth?" she called to him a little louder, trying to push herself up in the bed before remembering that her right arm was still out of commission.

The sound of her wince breaking him from his thoughts, Jareth all but flew to her side. "Lay back, Sarah, you are still too weak to move." He ordered, pushing her shoulders back onto the pillows.

"No, its not that." She replied, pushing back against his hands. "It's my arm that's bothering me."

Gently, Jareth removed the sling and bloody wrapping from her arm, placing his hands over the wound. Sarah yelped at the momentary heat she felt burn through it, but it cooled quickly, leaving Sarah's arm completely healed.

"I would have done it sooner, but I had to wait until you were no longer sleeping." He explained, lifting his hands from her arm. Sarah scooted to the side to make room for him to sit beside her.

"How long was I out?" she asked, rubbing the crumbs from her eyes.

"Nearly three days. The healers weren't sure if you would make it through the ordeal with the Shadow Soul, and I was beginning to wonder myself." Jareth looked directly at her, his face giving away none of the signs of worry or fear or even love he had shown before. But his eyes were searching her own for something.

"It's gone. All of the Shadow Soul was removed. Goliath came to me and removed the last of it." She said, guessing at what it was he was looking for.

"Goliath?" he replied surprised. "You and I destroyed Goliath, if my eyes do recall correctly."

"Not destroyed Goblin King. I don't destroy things, it's against my nature. Unless it's bugs, or annoying bosses, those I don't mind destroying." She quipped at him, drawing a small half-smile from him. "We removed the darkness from him, purified him. He came to me in my dreams, the way he used to be. He said thank you for saving him in the end."

"I had no intention of saving him after he sent that damned Shadow Soul at you." Jareth stated matter-of-factly, his arms crossed. Sarah caught a hint of protectiveness in his voice, but wasn't willing to believe it with his current nonchalant attitude towards her.

"I could tell from the scary blue your eyes turned. Which is why I interfered. You're already a little crazy there, Goblin King, I didn't need you going loopy on us with blood on your hands like that." She wittily replied.

Jareth glowered at her. "I choose to ignore that comment about me, and the fact that you're calling me Goblin King again, and focus on the fact that your intentions were well meant, so thank you."

Sarah laughed for the first time in days at him. "I thought you had a sense of humor, Oh Mighty Goblin King."

"My sense of humor is well intact; it is only deflated when the humor is directed at my person."

Sarah giggled again briefly. Then an awkward silence fell between them before Jareth got up to leave. "You need rest. Sleep. We have much to talk about later."

"Wait, Jareth." She grabbed his wrist as he turned to leave. He turned back. "Let's talk now. Please." Acquiescing, he returned to his seat at her bedside, noticing that Sarah wasn't letting go of his wrist. "What happens now? I mean, with the prophecy and everything." She asked, looking at her own hand but still not letting go.

"You relinquished the Labyrinth's power back to me, giving up your right to the throne and returning the power you took when you defeated me at my own game. And what's said…is said." He looked down at the medallion now hanging against his chest, back in its rightful place.

"Oh." Sarah finally took her hand from his wrist. "So…I guess I have to go home then. Or do I have to stay as your slave…now that you have all power over me?"

"If you wish it so, then yes." Jareth's voice was low and…almost empty.

"If I wish it so? What do you mean?"

"Sarah..." he sighed out, turning his gaze from the wall back to her. "Why did you give all your power to me? Why didn't you find another way, like you decided before coming to the Goblin City?"

His eyes were searching again, for something different, and this time Sarah looked away, unable to hold his alluring gaze. "Don't ask that Jareth. Please."

His gloveless hand took her chin gently and turned her face to his. She closed her eyes. "Sarah, look at me." He demanded. Sarah obeyed. His eyes were softer now, and more open. "I am asking. And as King of the Goblins and Prince of Faery, I demand an answer."

"…I love you. I always have. I could never admit it because I knew you could never feel the same. I made a mistake in throwing your proposal in your face back then, even though I was too young to accept it anyway. And once I realized that, I realized I wouldn't mind giving you power over me." Defeated tears fell from her eyes at having to admit her feelings while he showed none for her anymore.

His lips crashing down on hers threw all doubting thoughts from her mind. One hand curled into her already mussed hair, the other slid seductively down her side to the hem of her shirt. Lightning sparked all manner of emotions through her from his touch. Her hands delved into the soft, feathery locks of blond atop his head, pulling him further into her mouth. Accepting her invitation, Jareth pushed his lips harder against hers, forcing her teeth open with his tongue. Her tongue twined with his, sending fire pounding through their bodies, leaving both panting for air when he pulled away. He leaned his forehead against hers, stroking her side with one hand and her cheek with the other, with all the affection he had been holding back for so long.

"Precious thing, I meant all that I said when I told you I loved you. And I want you to stay here. With me."

"I don't know Jareth. I'm not too keen on being dressed like one of those Arabian slave girls." She joked.

"You've been reading far too many books, Sarah." Jareth spoke alluringly.

She giggled. "Besides, I know the laws of Faery. I can't stay as a human unless I have Fae magick, become a Fae or a Goblin, or…"

"Or become my Queen? I am quite willing to give you two out of the three options you just listed. It will cut my power in half, but overtime it will grow and double to accommodate. Besides, I think the Labyrinth has taken quite a liking to you on your journey." He smirked, placing a hand precariously on her chest. Sarah gasped when he removed it to reveal a silver replica of his own medallion, with a gold infinity symbol. It thrummed excitedly against her chest.

"But Jareth, you-"

"Sarah." He interrupted. "Don't defy me. I want you as my Queen. It has been my ultimate goal, ever since the day you wished your brother away. I asked too early the last time, but our reunion was meant so that I could ask again. So I'm asking, Sarah Williams of the Aboveground. Rule by my side as my wife and the Goblin Queen, love me, and I will be your eternal slave." His eyes held a hope and sincerity she only remembered seeing within the memories of Goliath. He was opening up to her in a way he had opened up to no other since Goliath, and all she wanted was to have him do the same with her for years to come.

Grinning, she said her right words. "I wish to be your wife and your Queen. And to rule beside you, love you, and be your eternal slave as you will be mine." Sarah's lips found his joyously grinning ones, pulling him on top of her on the bed. Jareth happily joined in the kiss, melding his lips to hers with the fire and lightning that sparked between them. Scooting her to the center of the bed, and sliding her head down to the pillow, he pinned her arms above her head before she could make another move.

"You're a virgin still, aren't you my love?"

Sarah's mind flashed briefly to the incident with Goliath and was relieved to say "Yes. I've been holding out for a Fae to consummate marriage with me through sex." She quipped.

He grinned. "So you are aware of the Fae customs of marriage then. There's no turning back from this if we do it now, and I don't want to rush you."

"Jareth…"

"I don't mind waiting, precious."

"Jareth." Sarah whispered seductively, pulling his face to hers. "Make love to me."

Grinning mischievously, Jareth released his control and quickly unbuttoned Sarah's shirt, his teeth nibbling gently at the lobe of her ear. Sarah whimpered, pushing him up some to unbutton his own shirt. He finished hers first, sliding the sleeves down her arms sensually, and tracing deft fingers back up to her collar bones. She trembled beneath him, reaching up to tug on his hair playfully. To her surprise, it drew a low moan from his lips. Her eyes flashed slyly as she tugged a little harder, causing him to growl and the bulge in his tight leggings to grow as though by magick. Jareth nipped at her neck and collar bone, returning the favor and wetting her in between her legs. She moaned his name as he continued to suck on her neckline, no doubt leaving hickeys in his wake. His lips traced further down, teasingly pulling at her bra straps, kissing and licking in between the valley of her breasts. She arched her back in a long moan, grazing his bulge. Her hands slid down to his pointed Fae ears, rubbing them gently in time with his licks. He moaned out the word "precious" against her skin, his breath hot and heady. A knock sounded at the door, but Jareth was in no mood to be interrupted so he waved his hand above their heads, locking and silencing the room. Sarah laughed, letting her mind wander to thinking about how she had gotten to that point, how Fate had somehow reworked everything in her life. Toby had been more right than she could have ever imagined, and she knew he would be happy about it whenever she was finally able to return to the Aboveground to tell him. But for now, she had unimaginable powers she never thought she'd have, and her greatest love and King she never thought she'd see again. So she closed her eyes, focusing on all the shivers and trembles he was causing in her with his stroking hands and tongue, and prepared for the greatest night the two would ever have.

"**JARETH!**"

Or it was supposed to have been, until his parents arrived. But that story's for another time. This one is ended, with a happy King, and a new Queen.

**A/N: **That's it! Thank you to all the readers who kept up with me and read this story and commented. I love to write for those who read! Yes, I know the ending was a bit of a let down, but it is a promise for a summer sequel! I just couldn't end it completely lol. So I hope you all enjoyed this and you will surely enjoy what I have coming for you in the sequel. But until then, TTFN, Ta Ta For Now!

**Labyrinth cast and Goliath: **BYE!


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